The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, which finally announced the appointment of head coach Hong Myung-bo after auditing various controversies surrounding the Korea Football Association, ordered the appointment of head coach Hong Myung-bo again as stipulated.
Choi Hyun-joon, inspector general of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, announced the final results of the Korea Football Association’s audit at the annex of the Seoul Government Complex in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 5th.
While demanding severe disciplinary action beyond suspension against high-ranking officials, including Chung Mong-kyu, president of the Korea Football Association, the Korea Football Association has informed the Korea Football Association to re-appoint the process of appointing the national team’s head coach, who confirmed procedural defects in the appointment process.
Inspector Choi said, “The appointment of Hong Myung-bo was made unfairly and opaquely recommended by an unauthorized person,” adding, “We need to find ways to heal the defects by ourselves, such as recommending candidates again by the National Power Reinforcement Committee and appointing them at the board of directors.”
Asked whether he should re-elect the national team’s head coach, he said, “Dismissing Hong could be one of the ways to heal,” adding, “We can’t do this or that (of the culture department). Then, FIFA can also doubt the possibility of third-party interference.”
He added, “The association should follow the rules (such as the appointment of a director).”
As such, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism asked to re-appoint Hong, but declined to comment on specific measures.
He made an ambiguous order of “defect healing,” saying that he respects the independence and autonomy of the soccer association warned by FIFA.
“It is difficult to order (Director Hong Myung-bo’s) to terminate the contract, not to be the party to the contract,” Choi said. “We hope that the agency will deal with the contract reasonably within the regulations set by the association.”
If the association goes through the process of appointing Hong again, it must take measures and report system improvement corrections within two months.
However, with the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North Korea-China World Cup in full swing, it is not an easy matter to re-elect the national team head coach.
In February, 먹튀검증 it took months for former coach Jurgen Klinsmann to step down and re-elect Hong.
In addition, as the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is concerned, if the association completely reviews the appointment of Hong, it could face sanctions from FIFA.
Chairman Chung attended the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Awards held in Seoul on the 29th of last month and said, “FIFA President Gianni Infantino understands the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism audit well in Korea,” adding, “It was a response that he did not understand the controversy over the appointment of the coach.”
In this situation, it is unlikely that the Korea Football Association will fully review the appointment of Hong as requested by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
Meanwhile, the Korea Football Association is scheduled to announce its position today, including a request for reconsideration on the results of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism audit.