Sports Briefs

FOOTBALL

Ex-FIFA VP Chung to attend Korea’s first World Cup game

Chung Mong-joon, former vice president at FIFA, will visit Russia to watch Team Korea’s World Cup group opener against Sweden, a national football team official in Saint Petersburg, Russia, said on Thursday.

The Korea Football Association official said Chung will attend the match between Korea and Sweden at Nizhny Novgorod Stadium in Nizhny Novgorod on Monday. It will be Chung’s first football-related activity since the world’s top sports tribunal ended FIFA’s ban on him.

In 2015, Chung was found guilty of infringing FIFA’s code of conduct during Korea’s bidding process for the 2022 World Cup, which was eventually awarded to Qatar, in 2010. He first received a six-year ban from FIFA’s ethics committee, but an appeal committee later reduced the suspension to five years and halved the fine to 50,000 Swiss francs ($50,775).

Upset with the ruling, Chung took his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in April last year. In February, the court reduced the five-year suspension to 15 months, which meant his ban had expired as of Jan. 7. The court also canceled the fine of 50,000 Swiss francs.

It has yet to be confirmed whether Chung will meet other football officials during his trip to Russia. It was reported that Sepp Blatter, the former FIFA president whom Chung ran against for the position, will likely travel to Russia after receiving an invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

ICE HOCKEY

Doc goes behind the scenes of inter-Korean hockey team

A new documentary has been released on the unified Korean women’s hockey team at the PyeongChang Winter Games, featuring behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with key figures to shed light on their unprecedented Olympic experience.

The Olympic Channel, an internet television service operated by the International Olympic Committee, unveiled the documentary, titled “We Are One,” on Wednesday.

Named after the popular chant shouted by the team’s fans during the PyeongChang Games, the 37-minute documentary chronicles the journey of the historic, headline-generating team hailed as a symbol of peace.

On Jan. 20, the International Olympic Committee opened the door for North Korea to compete in PyeongChang 2018 - the first Winter Olympics to take place in South Korea - by granting special additional quotas to 22 athletes in three sports and five disciplines.

The two countries agreed to march under one flag at the opening ceremony, but more significantly, they also decided to compete as one team for the first time in Olympic history, with 12 North Korean hockey players joining 23 South Korean players.

“This past February, the world gathered together in PyeongChang for 17 days of peace, sport and culture,” said Mark Parkman, general manager of the Olympic Channel. “Many will remember the emotional reception that the Korean unified team received as they entered Olympic Stadium during the opening ceremony, and we are honored to tell their story as they showed the world what can be accomplished when we work together.”

Yonhap