Read the below: it is a) unbelievable; and b) hilarious. Only reason that I understand why it happened is because in involves Italians and football.
What did this guy expect Ahn to do...not score the goal?!? [img]graemlins/wow.gif[/img]
The funniest thing about Gaucci's comments is that he actually believes he is doing the RIGHT thing... [img]graemlins/laugh2.gif[/img]
Boycott call over Italian club dumping Korean hero
Sydney Morning Herald
June 20 2002
Incensed Asian football chief Peter Velappan has proposed an Asian boycott of Italian club Perugia for axing South Korean hero Ahn Jung-Hwan, who dumped Italy on to the World Cup scrapheap.
Velappan has told Asia's World Cup finalists China, South Korea and Japan to avoid Perugia for declining to renew a loan contract for Ahn, who scored the golden goal against Italy, Singapore's Today newspaper has reported.
"I have warned soccer officials in China, Korea and Japan not to send players to Perugia, because all they are interested in is making money from merchandising these Asian players," Velappan said.
"Anyway, who the hell cares about Perugia?"
Perugia president Luciano Gaucci justified the dismissal of his 26-year-old South Korean import saying he "denigrated Italian football" with his match-winning goal in extra-time.
Comments by Perugia president Luciano Gaucci about Ahn have set off a global soccer controversy.
"Ahn will never play for Perugia again," said an enraged Gaucci who blamed his South Korean striker for Italy's defeat on Monday night.
"What did you expect me to do? That I would keep a player who ruined Italian football. He should have shown his talent while he was with us. He'll just have to go back to Korea and earn 100,000 lire (about 48 dollars) a month.
"I am not extending his contract, he does not merit it," Gaucci said. "When he arrived, he was like a little lost goat who didn't even have the money to buy a sandwich. He became rich without doing anything exceptional and then, at the World Cup, he denigrated Italian football."
Gaucci's vitriol outraged Velappan who accused the Italian club of poor sportsmanship.
"What he has said is in very bad taste. Italy should be a good loser. They are being bad sports," the Asian football supremo said.
"They were beaten by the better team and they should accept it. Why take it out on Ahn?"
To be fair to Gaucci - Ahn only scored 4 goals in 35 games for them this season and Perugia were relegated out of the Serie A as a result. [img]graemlins/laugh3.gif[/img]