South Korean football FC Seoul apologises for using sex dolls to fill empty stands

South Korean football club FC Seoul has apologised after “mannequins” used as substitute fans during a match at the weekend turned out to be sex dolls.

The 2016 K League winner said the dolls, which filled stands amid the coronavirus outbreak, had been ordered inadvertently after a “misunderstanding” with the supplier.

“We would like to apologise to the fans,” FC Seoul said in a statement on Instagram. “We are deeply sorry.”

It added: “Our intention was to do something light-hearted in these difficult times. We will think hard about what we need to do to ensure that something like this never happens again.”

2016 K League winners FC Seoul inadvertently used sex dolls rather than fashion mannequins to help fill empty stands this weekend. The club has apologised. Both the club and the supplier are pointing fingers at others. (It's not just COVID-19 you need to avoid catching!) #kleague pic.twitter.com/59rSU8XxYL

— Devon Rowcliffe (@WhoAteTheSquid) May 17, 2020

The attempt was made to bring a touch of realism back to the matches. It, however, backfired after social media users noticed that the mannequins, according to the Koreaboo website.

Several social media users weren’t even convinced by the explanation. “There must have been a countless number of people involved in getting that approved, shipped, dressed, and seated,” Koreaboo quoted one as saying. 

“In that process, no one thought to question the visuals of these mannequins?”

As for K-League, they became the first major football league to hold matches since the start of the pandemic. The season’s opening game was watched by a worldwide audience of fans starved of live football.