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Chung Mong-gyu defies critics in bid to run for fourth term as head of Korean football

Published: 19 Dec. 2024, 16:21 Updated: 19 Dec. 2024, 18:05

PAIK JI-HWAN
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Korea Footall Association President Chung Mong-gyu speaks during a press conference at the Pony Chung Foundation building in central Seoul on Dec 19. [YONHAP]

Beleaguered Korea Football Association (KFA) President Chung Mong-gyu promised Thursday to make the national team manager appointment process transparent and help the national squad reach the 2026 World Cup quarterfinals if he is elected to a fourth term next year.

Chung, who declared his bid to run for KFA President again earlier this month despite mounting pressure from Korean football fans and the government to step down, held a press conference Thursday at the Pony Chung Foundation building in central Seoul and announced his policies, including bringing improvements to the National Team Committee — responsible for recommending a national team manager.

The Pony Chung Foundation is named after Chung Mong-gyu's father, Chung Se-yung, the first CEO of Hyundai Motor whose sobriquet references the company's first mass-produced car, the Pony.

“I will make the National Team Committee’s system more professional in order to transparently sign a great manager that meets the nation’s expectations,” Chung Mong-gyu said. “Through this, I will elevate the competitiveness of the national team and work toward the goal of reaching the quarterfinals at the 2026 World Cup, winning a gold medal at the 2026 Asian Games and winning a medal at the 2028 Olympics.”

The incumbent president’s remarks about a transparent national team manager appointment process come after he faced criticism for his perceived irregular involvement in the appointment procedure for current national team boss Hong Myung-bo and his predecessor Jurgen Klinsmann.

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

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 should also has no role in the appointment process.

But the KFA has refuted the ministry's claims by saying that Chung exercised his own rights during the appointment process. The KFA has ignored government calls for Chung to be suspended.

Chung also emphasized his goal of unifying the promotion-relegation system across all Korean football leagues.

“I will complete the Korean promotion-relegation system covering the first to seventh divisions by 2027 and make a future in which football is a part of everyone’s lives,” Chung said. “I will unify the pro, semipro and amateur divisions that operate separately, reinforce lower leagues and expand their professionalism and support them to stabilize their operations.

Under current K League rules, the promotion and relegation system only applies between leagues at the same level: Professional, semi-professional or amateur.

The K League 1 and K League 2 are professional, K3 and K4 are semi-professional and K5, K6 and K7 are amateur.

Even if a K League 2 team finishes at the bottom of the second tier league, it does not face relegation to the K3. It is the same story the other way around — K3 winners don’t earn promotion to the K League 2 — and K5 champions cannot reach the K4.

Whether Chung can implement his policies is contingent on winning the election set to take place on Jan. 8 next year against fellow candidates former Seongnam FC CEO Shin Moon-sun and former Korean national team manager Huh Jung-moo.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]