FIFA President Sepp Blatter said on Friday his world football governing body may need another month to reach a conclusion on a South Korean player who held up a political banner at the London Olympics.
Park Jong Woo has not received his medal after waving a sign that read "Dokdo is our territory" after South Korea's 2-0 victory over Japan in the men's football bronze-medal match at the height of a territorial dispute between the two countries.
"Our disciplinary committee is investigating this matter. You can imagine that this is a very touchy matter," Blatter told a news conference on the eve of the Women's Under-20 World Cup final between the United States and Germany in Tokyo.
"This player has not received the medal. There is still one medal pending for the delegation of Korea," he said, adding that the disciplinary committee was outside of the FIFA executive committee.
"So I have to do the same as you. We have to wait for the decision that will be taken. I would say at least in the next month it should be settled."
The International Olympic Committee, which banned Park from attending the medals ceremony, is also investigating the incident as a "double case" as the IOC charter has rules over political and other messages displayed at the Games, Blatter said.
He added FIFA is responsible for incidents on the field of play.
Source: AFP
