New rule could ease beleaguered KFA chair's way into next term

Korean Sports & Olympic Committee Head Lee Gi-heung, left, and Korea Football Association Chairman Chung Mong-gyu [YONHAP]

Korea Football Association Chairman Chung Mong-gyu could stay in power for much longer despite Korean football fans demanding he resign, as the Korean Sports & Olympic Committee (KSOC) is pushing for a rule change that could allow heads of Korean sports organizations to more easily keep their posts.

The KSOC board of directors will hold a meeting at Seoul Olympic Parktel in southern Seoul on Friday to discuss a bill that would waive the evaluation currently required for Korean sports organization executives seeking a third term or beyond in power.

The rule change would effectively allow heads of Korean sports organizations like Korea Football Association Chairman Chung and KSOC Head Lee Gi-heung to serve consecutive terms without undergoing an evaluation by an internal KSOC watchdog.

Under current KSOC rules, heads of Korean sports organizations must be evaluated by the Commission for Fair Play in Sport on factors like the candidates’ financial contributions, how much they improved the competitiveness of the sport their organization oversees and whether they have taken an executive role at international organizations.

A KSOC official told the JoongAng Ilbo, an affiliate of the Korea JoongAng Daily, that a reason behind the rule change is the shortage of candidates running for executive roles of Korean sports organizations.

The official also said that the rule change is inevitable in order to allow those who have a desire to improve Korean sports to continue their work.

Both Lee and Chung are due to end their current terms early next year. Lee is due to finish his second term, while Chung is nearing the end of his third term.

The KSOC’s move, however, comes as the two have faced criticism from the public for their controversial decisions.

Lee put hundreds of Korean athletes who will compete at the Paris Olympics in a three-day military specialized training with the Korean Marine Corps last December in an attempt to “strengthen their mental stamina” ahead of the Games, which some people online called old-fashioned and inappropriate.

Chung, meanwhile, has faced backlash from Korean football fans online for allegedly using his authority to unilaterally appoint Jurgen Klinsmann as Korean national team manager.

Klinsmann was sacked in February after a one-year stint during which he received criticism for a perceived lack of tactical awareness and failure to win the Asian Cup despite a star-studded squad that included Europe-based footballers like Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur and Lee Kang-in of Paris Saint-Germain.

BY SONG JI-HOON [kjdsports@joongang.co.kr]