Fifa invites YouTuber Inocat to South Korea-Mexico clash after viral racism incident

SEOUL, June 18 — South Korean YouTuber Inocat is heading back to the Fifa World Cup stage — this time as an official guest of football’s governing body after a racist incident during her trip to Mexico sparked international backlash.

Fifa has invited content creator Yoon Su-jin, better known to her more than 6.6 million YouTube subscribers as Inocat, to attend South Korea’s match against Mexico in Guadalajara today.

In a statement released today, Fifa said Yoon had accepted the invitation and that the fixture — which coincides with the International Day for Countering Hate Speech — would serve as an opportunity to promote “a message of inclusion and respect.”

The invitation follows an incident during South Korea’s opening World Cup match against the Czech Republic on June 11, when Yoon was documenting her experience from the stands.

A video she later shared on social media showed a man seated behind her making a slant-eye gesture toward her. The clip quickly went viral, prompting widespread condemnation online.

The man was later identified as Ulises Fernando Bernal Miramontes, president of an engineering guild in Mexico.

Following the backlash, Bernal issued a public apology, saying he had “taken time to reflect on what happened” and wanted to express his “most sincere apologies in a clear and respectful manner”.

According to media reports, he was subsequently removed from his leadership position.