Former Tottenham star Mauricio Taricco has been handed a five-match ban for making a racist ‘slanted-eye’ gesture from the dugout while overseeing a K-League match in South Korea.
The Argentina star spent six years at the north London club between 1998 and 2004 and also enjoyed stints at Ipswich, West Ham, and Brighton during his time on English soil.
After going into management – which he first tried on the south coast alongside his playing career as an assistant in 2009 – Taricco has seen out assistant coaching spells at Sunderland, AEK Athens, and the Greek national team, among other sides, before landing at Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.
Taricco has held his role since 2024, but found himself in hot water when he made the highly offensive gesture at the referee during their November 8 game against Daejeon Hana Citizen FC.
The 52-year-old became embroiled in an argument with the official over appealing for a penalty on behalf of his side during the clash, which Jeonbuk went on to win 3-1.
Taricco is said to have then yelled ‘racist’ at the referee in Spanish before performing the gesture.
Former Tottenham star Mauricio Taricco was handed a five-match ban for a racist gesture
The former Sunderland assistant coach performed the ‘slanted-eye’ gesture while appealing for a handball for his side
Taricco was immediately sent off by the official.
After being charged by the K-League, Taricco claimed in a statement to their disciplinary committee that he had been gesturing that the referee had not seen a handball which he believed had been committed.
But as per the committee’s ruling, Taricco’s alleged intentions were beside the point.
‘The disciplinary committee stated that ‘the evaluation of a specific act should be based on the universal meaning of the act as expressed, rather than the perpetrator’s stated intentions’, the K-League said in a statement.
‘Based on these criteria, coach Taricco’s actions were identical to the widely known “slant-eye” derogatory gesture against Asians and sufficiently inflicted feelings of racial insult on the recipient.’
Taricco also received a fine totalling £10,336 (20,000,000 won).
South Korea FootballTottenham Hotspur
