Mexican Fan Who Made Racist Gesture at Ino Cat During World Cup Publicly Apologizes and Resigns From Job

After a video of him making a racist gesture toward a South Korean content creator during the 2026 FIFA World Cup went viral on social media, igniting a firestorm of condemnation and a broader discussion about racism at major sporting events, a Mexican spectator has issued a public apology.

On June 11th, at the Akron Stadium in Zapopan, during South Korea’s opening match against the Czech Republic (which South Korea won 2-1), a man behind South Korean YouTuber Ino Cat could be seen pulling the skin at the corners of his eyes toward her camera. The gesture has long been considered offensive and an insult toward people of East Asian descent. In the background, others could be heard laughing, while Ino Cat maintained a smile, never breaking eye contact with her camera.

She later shared the video clip on social media with a caption that read: “Tell me if I’m just being too sensitive” (translated from Korean). Another caption, in English, said: “POV: When you experienced racism at the World Cup.” The clip quickly went viral, becoming one of the more discussed off-field controversies of the tournament.

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The man in the video has been identified in Korean news reports as Ulises Fernando Bernal Miramontes. Following the outrage and outcry, he released a video statement in which he took responsibility for his actions and refused to dispute his intent.

“Whenever a foreigner visits Mexico, we want them to feel at home, and that is the exact opposite of what I did,” Bernal said in his statement. “I want to make a public apology to Ino Cat, to the Korean woman who suffered this inappropriate gesture on my part a few days ago at the match between Korea at the stadium in Guadalajara. Also to the Korean community and foreign community in general, and to all Mexicans who are ashamed that I don’t represent their actions.”

Bernal said he had resigned from his job at the Colegio de Topographic and Geomatic Engineers of Jalisco to keep the institution at arm’s length from this incident, and that the entire situation was “purely personal.”

He claimed he had already contacted Ino Cat and intended to offer his apology in person in the upcoming days.

“I think it is good to know when one is making a mistake,” he added. “And this is something that really hurts me because of the situation this has caused, but I really wanted to say from my heart that I am very sorry and that it will never happen again.”

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Reports had previously identified Bernal as an official at a different engineering organization, the Colegio de Ingenieros Civiles del Estado de Jalisco. This institution, however, immediately issued a statement denying that Bernal was affiliated with them.

The video also drew a wave of apologies from Mexican football fans, who assured Ino Cat that his behavior was unrepresentative of Mexico or the spirit of the World Cup.

Ino Cat thanked those who reached out to her, adding that most of her interactions with the locals since arriving in Mexico had been overwhelmingly kind and friendly.

The scandal is another entry into the growing public discussion about racism in the sport of soccer. Many critics claim that stadiums and governing bodies, particularly during large international competitions like the World Cup, where fans from many nations converge in shared spaces, are not doing enough to weed out the offenders and enforce anti-discrimination policies.

FIFA has official tournament protocols that list discrimination as punishable by sanctions against fans, teams, or even federations. There was no comment from FIFA or tournament organizers on this particular incident at the time of this writing.