KFA could still swipe K League manager as national team interviews begin

Football

Published: 03 Apr. 2024, 11:25 Updated: 03 Apr. 2024, 16:48

KFA could still swipe K League manager as national team interviews begin

KFA National Team Committee Head Chung Hae-sung speaks during a briefing at the KFA House in central Seoul on Tuesday. [NEWS1]

The Korean national football team could still swipe a manager from the K League despite the outcry from Korean football fans as the Korea Football Association (KFA) on Tuesday announced it is beginning candidate interviews but did not commit to staying out of the domestic coaching pool.

KFA National Team Committee Head Chung Hae-sung said Tuesday that the KFA will start interviewing 11 managers — four Korean and seven foreign managers — and appoint a permanent manager by early or mid-May. He did not specify whether the four Korean managers had active posts in the K League.

“It is risky to say okay,” Chung said, responding to a question about whether it would be acceptable for the KFA to ask a K League manager to leave their team if they are appointed to the national team job. “If a manager leaves his team in the middle of a season, the team will have difficulties. The KFA will communicate with the team closely enough and pay our respect to the fans.”

The national team manager post has been vacant since the KFA sacked ex-manager Jurgen Klinsmann in February.

Chung’s remarks, at the KFA House in central Seoul, came despite the KFA having faced backlash in February for considering appointing K League team managers like Ulsan HD boss Hong Myung-bo or FC Seoul manager Kim Gi-dong, who were reportedly on the KFA’s radar after they axed Klinsmann.

Had the KFA at the time appointed a K League manager, it would have come as a major disruption to their team, which would have been a few days from its first match of the 2024 K League 1 season that began on March 1.

Ulsan’s official fan club even protested in front of the KFA House, saying that Hong was not an option, amid reports the KFA was considering him for the job.

The fan club said in a statement posted to Instagram it would do everything it could to stop the KFA from appointing a K League team manager for the permanent national team manager role.

The KFA reversed its initial decision to immediately hire a permanent manager and instead appointed U-23 national team manager Hwang Sun-hong in the interim. The KFA said it would nominate a permanent manager by early May.

Hwang departed the senior team after taking charge of two 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Thailand in March, picking up a 1-1 draw and a 3-0 win.

Then-Korean national team interim manager Hwang Sun-hong watches a 2026 World Cup qualifer against Thailand at Seoul World Cup Stadium in western Seoul on March 21. [NEWS1]

Hwang said last month that he did not consider becoming a permanent senior team manager and would focus on the U-23 team that will compete at the Paris Olympic qualifiers that begin this month.

The senior team has a clear schedule until June when they play their two remaining 2026 World Cup second round qualifiers against Singapore and China.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]