With controversy surrounding the Korea Football Association (KFA)’s hiring of the new men’s national team head coach not dying down, both the sports ministry and the state-run Korea Sports Ethics Center have said they will investigate the national football body for any procedural issues.
The KFA has been under fire since appointing Hong Myung-bo as head coach of the men’s national team on July 7. The KFA had spent the previous five months trying to find a replacement for Jurgen Klinsmann, who was fired in February. The association had interviewed several foreign-born candidates before settling on Hong after a brief meeting between the KFA’s technical director, Lee Lim-saeng, and Hong on the night of July 5.
The KFA announced Saturday that its board of directors approved Hong’s appointment in a three-day vote.
Hong Myung-bo, head coach of the South Korean men’s national football team, prepares for a media scrum at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, on July 15, 2024, before traveling to Europe to
interview candidates for his assistant coaching positions. (Yonhap)
Former player Park Joo-ho, who served on the KFA’s National Teams Committee, a body in charge of the coaching hiring process, went on YouTube earlier this month to blast the KFA for disregarding the proper vetting process. Other former players, including ex-national team captain Park Ji-sung, have publicly backed Park Joo-ho after the KFA threatened legal action against him, and have taken their own shots at the KFA for its lack of transparency.
An official with the Sports Ethics Center, an organization under the auspices of the sports ministry, told Yonhap News Agency on Tuesday that a complaint had been submitted regarding the KFA’s hiring process.
“We can’t confirm further details but an investigation is under way,” the official said.
Late Monday, an official with the sports ministry told Yonhap that the ministry would look into whether the KFA had committed any wrongdoing before hiring Hong.
“Out of respect for the KFA’s autonomy, we
‘ve mostly stood pat even as critical articles kept coming out in the media. But I think we’ve reached our limit,” the ministry official said. “We will see if there has been anything wrong with the whole process. And if we identify problems, then we will take necessary action within our jurisdiction.”
The KFA is listed as “a government-related organization” and thus is subject to an audit by the sports ministry.
According to Article 14 in FIFA Statutes, members associations are under obligation to “manage their affairs independently and ensure that their own affairs are not influenced by any third parties.”
Article 19 states: “Each member association shall manage its affairs independently and without undue influence from third parties.”
Source: Yonhap News Agency
