KFA backs Chung Mong-gyu, ignores gov't call for suspension

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KFA backs Chung Mong-gyu, ignores gov't call for suspension

Published: 06 Nov. 2024, 15:00 Updated: 06 Nov. 2024, 17:44

PAIK JI-HWAN
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Korea Football Association President Chung Mong-gyu watches a 2026 World Cup qualifier between Korea and Jordan at Amman International Stadium in Jordan on Oct. 11. [NEWS1]

The Korea Football Association (KFA) said Wednesday that KFA President Chung Mong-gyu did not breach the association's rules in the appointment of current national team manager Hong Myung-bo and his predecessor Jurgen Klinsmann, refuting the result of a government probe announced a day earlier that found multiple irregularities in both appointments.

The KFA did not comment on the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s demand that Chung and other related officials be suspended.

The KFA said in a statement that Chung did not interview manager candidates during the appointment process that saw Klinsmann become the manager — the probe found that he interviewed two candidates — but only asked them what they would need to do the job, exercising his rights as president.

The KFA also defended former National Team Committee Head Michael Muller and Technical Director Lee Lim-saeng, both of whom were also accused of breaching the association's own rules.

The ministry said that Muller, who announced Klinsmann as the manager, wrote a shortlist of candidates even before the National Team Committee, which is responsible for recommending a national team manager, was formed. But the KFA said Muller did speak with committee members over the appointment.

Then-Korea Fooball Association (KFA) National Team Committee Head Michael Muller speaks during a press conferece at KFA House in central Seoul on Feb. 28, 2023. [NEWS1]

As for Lee, who personally hired Hong as manager, the KFA said that he only negotiated deals with candidates that had already been recommended by former National Team Committee Head Chung Hae-sung, refuting the ministry’s claim that Lee’s involvement in the appointment was a breach of rules because the technical director has no right to appoint a manager.

The KFA added that it is “very important to confirm details during a negotiation process,” and the technical director, who oversees the association’s technical department, can negotiate deals with candidates.

Korea Football Association (KFA) Technical Director Lee Lim-saeng speaks during a press conference at KFA House in central Seoul on July 8. [YONHAP]

The KFA’s statement comes a day after the government demanded KFA President Chung suspend himself and other related officials for their involvement in the appointments of Hong and Klinsmann. Perceived rregularities in the appointment of Hong, and the uproar that followed from former football players, officials and fans that followed, prompted the ministry to launch the investigation on July 29.

While the ministry has requested the punishment, the government does not have the power to actually enforce that demand. The KFA is a separate institution and, according to FIFA regulations, cannot be influenced by government officials.

But Inspector General Choi Hyun-joo said Tuesday that the ministry will use all available options to make the KFA a “fair, transparent and ordinary organization.”

If the KFA does not follow the ministry recommendation, the government can launch another probe. The ministry declined to comment on whether there is any mechanism through which it can make the KFA remove Hong from his position.

FIFA has already waded into the debate over Chung and the KFA, sending a letter to the association last month reminding it of "its statutory obligation to manage its affairs independently and to ensure that its own affairs are not unduly influenced by any third parties."

FIFA President Gianni Infantino also visited Korea last week and repeated his opinion about the importance of autonomy.

“The KFA decides, for example, who the national team coach has to be and all other sporting decisions. Autonomy in sports is crucial,” Infantino told reporters at KFA House in central Seoul on Oct. 28.

Speculation that the KFA unfairly favored Hong arose when lawmaker Kang Yu-jung presented a KFA PowerPoint slide to the National Assembly's sports committee that compared three managerial candidates: Hong, Gus Poyet and David Wagner.

Korean national team manager Hong Myung-bo watches the 2026 World Cup qualifer between Korea and Iraq at Yongin Mireu Stadium in Yongin, Gyeonggi on Oct. 15. [NEWS1]

While the slide had a broadly positive evaluation of Hong, saying that he has displayed a football style that matches what the KFA seeks and has made constant improvements as coach, the comments on the two foreign managers were far less sympathetic.

The slide said that Poyet’s tactics are not what the KFA wants and he has not made any achievements as manager. But Poyet led Brighton to promotion to the Championship as League One champions in the 2010-11 season.

As for Wagner, it said that he has no experience as national team manager and that the KFA is worried whether Korean players will adapt to his highline style of play. Wagner has not helmed a national team, but did lead Huddersfield to promotion to the Premier League for the 2017-18 season.

Chung said at the time that the KFA was still not pushing Hong as the lead candidate.

Hong, meanwhile, has already coached four national team games in the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers where he has secured three wins and one draw.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]