Here are The Members of The Female Celebrity Soccer Team "FC Rumor" + Members Respond to Backlash
On July 19, Sunday, Apink's Hayoung shared a photo of the inauguration ceremony of FC Rumor, an all-female celebrity soccer club, on her instagram. Gugudan's Kim Sejeong also shared the photo to her account. Additionally, it was shared to FC Rumor's official Instagram account as well.
The photo was taken a day before on July 18, Saturday, and shows the members wearing the uniforms. Notable idols in the photo include Gugudan's Kim Nayoung and Kim Sejeong, Apink's Oh Hayoung, BESTIE's Yuji, TWICE's Jihyo and Mina, and EXID's Jeonghwa.
The club also has South Korean footballer Shim Seo Yeon, Miss Supranational Korea 2018 Eunbi Lee, actress Choi Seoyoung, and actress and Miss Korea 2001 Kim Sarang. The club allegedly includes some non-celebrities.
Though the announcement of the club sparked excitement between fans of the mentioned celebrities, some netizens had criticized the group for allegedly being a way for female idols to flirt and meet male idols from the all-male celebrity soccer club.
In response, Gugudan's Sejeong responded to the accusations on Instagram story, saying:
"Ah.. ah ah this isn't it...
1. There's no relation between the female and male team, here are no irrelevant exchanges and there never will be. We don't even know who is there and we aren't curious about each other! (Really, really, seriously, truthfully, fact, we are excited amongst ourselves are we are happy now.)
2. Its genuinely because we like soccer, we want to learn it, and we also want to find a new hobby, that why we gathered as a group.
3. There's not only only celebrities, but non-celebrities as well. We celebrities didn't think of protecting the privacy of the non-celebrities at first."
Oh Hayoung has also released a series of tweets explaining the situation and debunking the rumors. The thread reads,
"I have read and have been personally sent a lot of posts and messages, and I want to tell you that there are no other members [of FC Rumor] other than the girls. I want to clear this up because the worrisome rumors just keep coming and coming!
We were surprised to hear about the malicious comments, harassing comments, and hurtful personal messages. There are many words I've heard for the first time. There was really no meeting with others other than us, and we just gathered as a group because we like the sport!
It's a women's team made up of people who love football, where everyone sweats and works out together to exercise! I think there are a lot of people who sadly think otherwise.
Sorry for the misunderstanding. Additionally, we will respond to malicious comments and articles that go to far by consulting with our agencies. We are meeting and coming together with good intentions. Please don't misunderstand!
It has nothing to do with the men's team and we've never even played nor seen soccer together! If any fans or others have any concerns, then it concerns us as well! It's a team that has been gathered because we genuinely like the sport."
The FC Rumor official Instagram has been privated following the allegations made against the team.
