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Korea Football Association slammed for bias in election management

Published: 09 Jan. 2025, 16:02

Chung Mong-kyu, president of the Korea Football Association, attends an executive meeting to discuss the national team and manager Jurgen Klinsmann's spot at its helm at the KFA House in Jongno District, southern Seoul on Feb. 16, 2024. [NEWS1]

A candidate running for Korean football chief condemned the sport's governing body Thursday for its failure to ensure impartiality in managing the election, saying some people appointed to oversee the process had conflicts of interest.

Huh Jung-moo, former head coach of the men's national team, is up against the incumbent leader Chung Mong-gyu and former TV commentator Shin Moon-sun in the election for Korea Football Association (KFA) president. The election was to have taken place Wednesday but was postponed indefinitely after the Seoul Central District Court on Tuesday granted Huh's injunction to stop the process.

Huh had accused the KFA of lacking transparency for refusing to identify members of the election management committee. The eight-person body must include at least six individuals with no affiliation with the KFA or other sports bodies, such as people from academia or media.

Huh claimed the KFA was trying to conceal that information because the committee had appointed people with connections to Chung. And on Thursday, Huh said he has been proven correct.

In a press release, Huh said the election committee includes an attorney who serves on the Commission for Fair Play in Sport at the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC).

That same KSOC body approved Chung's bid for a fourth term in December. According to KSOC regulations, heads of national sports federations seeking reelection beyond the second term must be approved by the fair play commission.

Any individual working with the KSOC, any of its subcommittees, or its member associations is not permitted to serve on the KFA election management committee.

Huh Jung-moo speaks during a press conference at the KFA House in central Seoul on Jan. 3. [NEWS1]

According to Huh, an attorney working at the law firm Kim & Chang is also on the election committee. Kim & Chang was the legal representative for Chung's construction firm, HDC Hyundai Development, after a deadly collapse of the company's apartment building under construction in Gwangju in 2022. Huh said it wasn't difficult to connect the dots and assume that the history between the law firm and Chung led to the attorney's appointment.

"The KFA refused to reveal the list of committee members on the grounds that it wasn't mandatory. But now we know clearly why they didn't want to disclose those names," Huh said. "They formed the committee with people who could protect Chung Mong-gyu and they violated rules in the process. It shows just how much the KFA disrespects people in football and the public in general. Chung must stop his immoral, unfair and illegal action. Otherwise, he will have to be held accountable, and it won't just end with the election."

Shin, the third candidate, said the National Election Commission has to take over the process because the KFA's committee has "already lost its credibility."

Yonhap