"I think it is good to know when one is making a mistake." That line, from Ulises Fernando Bernal Miramontes, might be the most honest thing said in connection with the 2026 World Cup so far — and it came wrapped in a formal apology for one of the tournament's ugliest off-field moments.
On June 11th, during South Korea's opening group stage win over Czech Republic at Akron Stadium in Zapopan, Bernal was caught on camera pulling the corners of his eyes back toward the lens of South Korean YouTuber Ino Cat — a gesture with a long, well-documented history as a racial slur directed at people of East Asian descent. Others nearby could be heard laughing. Ino Cat kept smiling, kept filming, and never flinched.
She posted the clip with the caption: "Tell me if I'm just being too sensitive." The answer from the internet was swift and unambiguous.
The apology, and what came with it
Bernal's video statement didn't hedge. He took responsibility, declined to dispute his intent, and resigned from his position at the Colegio de Topographic and Geomatic Engineers of Jalisco — a move he framed as protecting the institution rather than any formal punishment. "Purely personal," he called it.
His apology extended beyond Ino Cat to the broader Korean community, to international visitors in general, and pointedly to "all Mexicans who are ashamed that I don't represent their actions." He said he'd already been in contact with Ino Cat and planned to apologize to her in person.
It's a more complete response than these incidents usually produce. That doesn't erase the gesture, but it at least sidesteps the usual cycle of partial non-apologies and institutional finger-pointing. One previous report had identified Bernal as affiliated with a different engineering body, the Colegio de Ingenieros Civiles del Estado de Jalisco — that organization immediately denied any connection to him.
The larger problem FIFA keeps not solving
Ino Cat, for her part, noted that the vast majority of her interactions with locals in Mexico had been warm and welcoming. Mexican fans flooded her comments with apologies. That goodwill matters — but it doesn't close the structural gap.
FIFA has anti-discrimination protocols on the books. Fans, teams, and even entire federations can theoretically face sanctions. In practice, enforcement at the ground level — the specific stadium section, the specific moment — remains an obvious weak point. At a tournament where dozens of nations' supporters are crammed into shared venues across an entire host nation, that gap isn't theoretical. As of publication, neither FIFA nor tournament organizers had commented on this particular incident.
The World Cup sells itself as global football's great unifying event. Moments like this are a reminder of what gets through the gates when the stadium fills up.
