British police have arrested a man in his 50s on suspicion of directing racist abuse at South Korean national team forward Eom Ji-sung, 24, of Swansea City during an English league match.
The Metropolitan Police said they "arrested a 51-year-old man at a residential address in Kent on the 14th," according to the BBC on the 16th, Korean time. The man is suspected of racially aggravated harassment causing alarm or distress.
He was taken to a police station in south London for questioning and later released on bail. Police plan to continue their investigation with the man at liberty until mid-January next year.
The Metropolitan Police said they take all reports of discriminatory abuse seriously and will work with football clubs and officials to investigate allegations of this type.
The incident occurred during a 2026-2027 English Championship second-division match between Swansea City and Millwall at The Den in London on the 14th.
Swansea issued a statement after the match saying it had received allegations of racist abuse aimed at Eom during the second half.
The match, which Swansea won 1-0, was halted for about six minutes in the second half while the teams were level at 0-0. Eom, who helped South Korea win the men's football gold medal at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, was named among the substitutes and was warming up near the touchline with a teammate at the time.
When play was stopped, the referee conferred with the fourth official and the two managers to assess the situation. A stadium announcement then said police were reviewing closed-circuit television footage to identify a suspect in connection with a report of racist chanting.
A message was also displayed on the scoreboard urging spectators to report any hate speech immediately.
After the match, Swansea manager Vitor Matos said play had been temporarily suspended because of racist conduct directed at Eom.