Mannequins are placed in spectator seats to cheer South Korea's football club FC Seoul team during a match against Gwangju FC, which is held without fans due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Seoul, May 17, 2020.
A South Korean professional soccer club has apologized after being accused of putting sex dolls in empty seats during a match Sunday in Seoul.
With stadiums empty as precautions against the spread of COVID-19, the Dalkom company offered to provide the management of FC Seoul with mannequins to help them fill their seats for the team’s first match Sunday and the team agreed. The company provided 30 mannequins in all – 28 female and two male.
But during the televised match, some viewers noticed some of the female mannequins looked like sex dolls, and, in fact, carried advertisements for adult websites.
In a statement, FC Seoul expressed "sincere remorse" over the controversy, and said they had been assured by the company they were using mannequins — not sex dolls — to mimic a home crowd during its 1-0 win over Gwangju FC at the Seoul World Cup stadium.
FC Seoul said it was attempting to add "an element of fun" with the mannequins.