Rival coach resigns in player gender identity scandal

A head coach of a local women's football club has resigned after controversially joining fellow coaches in demanding a star player on a rival squad take a gender verification test.

Lee Sung-gyun, bench boss for Suwon FMC in the WK-League, offered to step down late Thursday, after he'd organized a meeting among six coaches in which they raised questions about the gender identity of Park Eun-seon, striker on the seventh WK-League club, Seoul City Hall Amazones.

The coaches had agreed to boycott competition in 2014 if Park, 26, were allowed to keep playing. Their plan was first reported in the media on Tuesday and sparked outrage among the public.

Seoul City Hall officials on Thursday charged that Lee and other coaches had seriously violated Park's human rights and demanded an apology.

In the immediate aftermath, rival coaches of Seoul City Hall had said they were only sharing a private joke about Park which was blown out of proportion when it was leaked to the media. They'd also explained that they were merely wondering why Park, who overwhelmed the WK-League this past season with the league-best 19 goals in 22 matches, hadn't made the national team in recent years.

Critics of their proposed boycott believe these coaches were insinuating that Park's gender might have been a factor that kept her off the national team.

On Thursday, Seoul City Hall officials revealed a formal document in which those half a dozen coaches said they planned to sit out the 2014 season if Park remained in the league.

In announcing his decision to quit, Lee said he felt someone had to take responsibility for the saga. Lee apologized to Park but denied he and fellow coaches ever intended to hurt the player.

"We didn't mean to raise issue about Park's gender," Lee said.

"We were only questioning why Park hadn't been on the national team even though she's the best female player."

Park, listed at 180 centimeters and 74 kilograms, has previously faced questions about her gender identity, but has already competed in FIFA-sanctioned international events, such as the 2003 Women's World Cup and the Asian qualifiers for the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Ahead of the 2010 AFC Women's Asian Cup, Park was taken off the South Korean roster after local media in host China raised doubts about her gender. Her WK-League team officials explained on Thursday that Park was removed for poor conditioning and the move had nothing to do with such suspicions.

Park has not yet made a public appearance this week, but recently wrote on her Facebook page that she will not let her detractors destroy her career. (Yonhap News)