Veteran coach Huh Jung-moo announces candidacy for KFA president

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Veteran coach Huh Jung-moo announces candidacy for KFA president

Published: 25 Nov. 2024, 15:57 Updated: 25 Nov. 2024, 17:59

PAIK JI-HWAN
[email protected]

Huh Jung-moo speaks during a press conference at Seoul Olympic Parktel in southern Seoul on Monday. [YONHAP]

Former Korean national team manager Huh Jung-moo announced Monday that he will be running for president of the Korea Football Association, promising to build a "transparent and fair" association as he takes on incumbent head Chung Mong-gyu.

Huh held a press conference at Seoul Olympic Parktel in southern Seoul on Monday and announced the policies he would implement as KFA head, all clearly aimed at addressing the various criticisms that have been leveled at the KFA under Chung, including the controversial managerial appointments of Hong Myung-bo and Jurgen Klinsmann.

Huh highlighted the heavy-handed leadership of Chung, who was alleged to have had an outsized influence in the appoint of both managers.

According to a Sports Ministry probe into the KFA announced on Nov. 5, former National Team Committee Head Michael Muller wrote the manager candidate list even before the selection committee was formed, and Chung, who should have no formal involvement in the selection of managers, interviewed two candidates himself. The KFA then announced Klinsmann as the national team boss.

As for the appointment of Hong, the ministry said that Chung instructed Technical Director Lee Lim-saeng to take charge of the process and led him to appoint Hong on his own, even though Lee has no right to be involved in the appointment process.

Korean national team manager Hong Myung-bo looks on during a 2026 World Cup qualifier against Palestine at Amman International Stadium in Amman, Jordan on Wednesday, Nov. 20. [YONHAP]

“Firstly, I will restore people’s trust through open management and active communication,” Huh said. “I will run every decision making process through a fair and transparent method.

“I will make a culture under which fans can be involved. I will always be with all the fans including millennials, Gen Zs and female fans by expanding communication methods through various new media in the digital AI era.”

Huh also promised to make the national team appointment process transparent with a more specialized committee.

“For contracts with national team managers, coaches or players, I will have a committee consisting of experts in a specialized area run independently in order for the committee to block influence from the president or board,” Huh said.

Huh also promised to reinforce the youth player development system and women’s football.

“I will reinforce the youth development program and push to build an overseas-based facility that can support youth players to go play overseas,” Huh said. “The WK League has not been as popular compared to women’s sports that have become more popular. I will work to revitalize it and elevate the competitiveness of [Korea’s] women’s football.”

Huh, 70, is a veteran figure in Korean football and has taken multiple coaching and administrative roles.

After taking a trainer position for the national team in 1989, he has served as an assistant coach and manager for multiple K League clubs, including the Jeonnam Dragons and Incheon United over the past 30 years.

He also led the national team for the 2010 World Cup, where Korea reached the round of 16 for the second time in history.

The veteran coach then served as KFA vice president from 2013 to 2014 and most recently took the chairman role at K League club Daejeon Hana Citizen from 2020 to 2023.

Huh is the only candidate to have officially declared a bid to run for the KFA president as of Monday, but incumbent president Chung is reportedly set to run for a fourth term.

The sports ministry demanded Chung be suspended from the KFA for his perceived irregular involvement in the appointment processes, but the KFA refuted the claims, saying that the president did not breach the association’s rules.

Korea Football Association President Chung Mong-gyu during a parliamentary committee on culture, sports and tourism at the National Assembly in western Seoul on Sept. 24. [YONHAP]

The ministry can launch another probe if the KFA does not follow its request, but the ministry did not say whether there is any mechanism through which it can make the KFA remove Chung from his position.

The KFA President is elected by an electoral college consisting of 100 to 300 members designated by the association. KFA rules stipulate that the members are players, former players, referees, coaches, sports club members and other figures specified by the association, in addition to representatives consisting of three groups: One member each from provinces and cities, one member apiece from the country’s federations and one member each from teams in the first division.

Candidates can register from Dec. 25 to 27, with the election on Jan. 8 next year.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]