KFA to help footballers with service requirement

Korea’s governing football body said Wednesday that it will roll out community service programs for players who are exempt from military service following a fraud case.

The Korea Football Association (KFA) said it will help players who are required to do community service after their military exemption so that it can prevent wrongdoing surrounding the matter. Able-bodied Korean men are required to serve in the military for about two years. By law, all Olympic medal winners and Asian Games gold medalists are entitled for an exemption in recognition of their contribution to the country’s reputation and prestige.

But those who earn the exemption need to complete basic military training, which can take up to 60 days, as well as 544 hours of sports-related community service over 34 months. The law on community service went into effect in July 2015.

However, Korean defender Jang Hyun-soo, who earned a military service exemption with a gold medal at the 2014 Asian Games, was recently caught fabricating his community service records. He was slapped with a lifetime ban from the national team by the KFA. In order to prevent such misconduct, the KFA said it will come up with community service programs starting next year.

Those who received military service exemptions via a gold medal at the 18th Asian Games in Indonesia this summer, including Tottenham Hotspur star Son Heung-min, will likely be the first ones to experience the programs prepared by the KFA.

Yonhap