Regarding the controversy over the grass at the Seoul World Cup Stadium, FC Seoul’s Jesse Lingard, who was adopted as a reference for the parliamentary audit, decided not to attend.
According to Yonhap News on Wednesday, Lingard decided to submit a statement of reasons for his absence as a reference to the National Assembly. “The decision was made in consideration of the difficult situation to attend as a reference due to team training and K League 1 match schedule.
Earlier, the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee adopted Lingard’s opinion as a reference at the parliamentary audit of Seoul City Hall scheduled for the 15th. In addition, Democratic Party lawmaker Wi Sung-gon said he would listen to Lingard’s opinion on the English professional football Premier League (EPL) stage, which has excellent football-related infrastructure, in relation to the recent controversial state of the grass at the Seoul World Cup Stadium.
The Seoul Metropolitan Facilities Management Corporation, which manages the Seoul World Cup Stadium, has sparked controversy after it was found that it earned 8.2 billion won (approximately 8 million U.S. dollars) from soccer matches and performances but only spent 250 million won (277,540 dollars) on grass management. The venue for the third World Cup qualifying match against Iraq on Monday has also been changed to Yongin. Lingard also criticized that the grass condition is serious. 스포츠토토
However, since Lingard is playing for FC Seoul, which uses the Seoul World Cup Stadium as its home stadium, there have been growing voices that it is not appropriate to adopt him as a reference for the inspection. A reference person is also not obligated to attend.