Park Ji-sung, a fan-favorite former player for Manchester United, asked the soccer club’s fans Sunday to stop singing a song in his honor that includes the racist stereotype that Koreans eat dog meat.
As a decorated midfielder for the team from 2005-12, Park earned the adoration of the team’s fans, who bestowed upon him a common honor in the soccer world: a song or chant, often performed in the stadium, with lyrics intended to praise him.
But the reference to dog meat was "very uncomfortable to me,” even though he was proud that fans made a song for him and he understood they did not intend to offend or hurt him, he said on an official team podcast released Sunday.