KFA fires back at ministry's probe findings on 'unfair' manager appointments

Home > Sports > Football

KFA fires back at ministry's probe findings on 'unfair' manager appointments

Published: 03 Oct. 2024, 11:31 Updated: 03 Oct. 2024, 16:17

PAIK JI-HWAN
paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr

Korean national team manager Hong Myung-bo, left of middle row, KFA Chairman Chung Mong-gyu, front center, and KFA Technical Director Lee Lim-saeing, right, during the parliamentary committee on culture, sports and tourism at the National Assembly in western Seoul on Sept. 24. [NEWS1]

The Korea Football Association (KFA) said Wednesday that the appointment processes for current Korean national team manager Hong Myung-bo and his predecessor Jurgen Klinsmann were fair, refuting interim probe results from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism released earlier that day.

The KFA said that its technical director, Lee Lim-saeng, and chairman, Chung Mong-gyu, were both exercising the rights provided by their roles during the appointment procedures.

The KFA released a statement a few hours after the ministry held a briefing at the Government Complex Seoul in central Seoul over its ongoing investigation into the KFA’s appointment procedures for the two managers and other aspects of the association’s operations.

The ministry launched a probe on July 29 after the appointment of Hong drew criticism from Korean football fans after it was announced on July 7. During the appointment process, KFA technical director Lee allegedly bypassed the National Team Committee, which is responsible for selecting a national team manager, to appoint Hong on his own.

The ministry said that the appointment procedure for Hong was unfair as Lee recommended manager candidates, although he is not a member of the National Team Committee.

However, the KFA said in the statement that Lee did not recommend the candidates, but only interviewed and negotiated deals with the candidates recommended by the National Team Committee, exercising his rights as technical director.

As for the appointment process for Klinsmann, who took the national team job in February last year and was sacked in February this year, the ministry said that the KFA did not follow proper procedures.

Former National Team Committee Head Michael Muller compiled the manager candidate list even before the committee was formed, and chairman Chung, who has no right to recommend managers, interviewed two candidates himself, said the ministry. The KFA then announced Klinsmann as the national team boss.

The KFA, however, said that while Chung did speak with two candidates, he did not evaluate them but asked them about what they would need for the job, also exercising his rights as chairman.

The KFA added that its rules stipulate that “the chairman is to direct the association’s work.”

However, the KFA stated that it has no detailed rules on proper appointment processes for the national team manager and will work to create those in the future.

Inspector General Choi Hyun-joon from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism speaks during a briefing at the Government Complex Seoul in central Seoul on Wednesday. [NEWS1]

The ministry is set to complete its ongoing probe at the end of October and decide the extent of the punishment for those involved in the allegedly unfair appointment processes, but Inspector General Choi Hyun-joon said Wednesday that it is “difficult to judge whether the contract [of Hong] is ineffective,” implying that Hong could remain as national team boss despite the punishment.

Hong has coached two matches in the third qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup for Korea so far and recorded one win and one draw, with the qualifiers set to continue in October.

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