When the Korea Football Association was belatedly pointed out by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism while trying to set up an office space at a mini-stadium in Cheonan Football Center by illegally receiving 5.6 billion won in state subsidies, it gave a rather absurd explanation, saying, “I think it would be right for the government to help secure office space.” The office space that the Korea Football Association tried to prepare by reversing the consultation with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism was scheduled to be 1409.96㎡, including the chairman’s office, secretary-general’s office, executive office, and office used by the chairman, but it turned out that he submitted “false documents” to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism even during the recent subsidy settlement process.
In a statement to the association on the results of a specific audit by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on the 6th, the Korea Football Association said, “The Ministry of Culture will demand the return of the grant because the association received 5.6 billion won in subsidies in 2023 in connection with the construction of a mini-stadium, and will also collect up to five times the sanction surcharge,” and explained, “The association has a different opinion on this.” The mini-stadium is a facility planned to have a total floor area of 13,154 square meters underground and three stories above ground within the Cheonan Football Center, and the Korea Football Association was caught during the audit process while trying to set up an office space in the mini-stadium, contrary to the contents of consultations with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
The association said, “We received a total of 7.7 billion won from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, including 2.1 billion won in 2022 and 5.6 billion won in 2023 to build a mini-stadium,” adding, “The Ministry of Culture and Sports pointed out that it is an illegal supply and demand because the association plans to build an office space in violation of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s policy of “not being able to have an office space inside the mini-stadium.”
“The Korea Football Association has planned to set up an office space outside the mini-stadium building (not inside the mini-stadium) in the process of applying for the 2022 and 2023 grants,” the association said. “We are currently reviewing and changing the design of the appropriate office space. We are also planning to discuss the matter with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.”
“The building that can fit office space in the center is the national team’s lodging building and the mini stadium. The players’ lodging building is a space necessary for players’ rest and training. Most stadiums in Korea and abroad have considerable office space inside. It would be inefficient to not have the association’s office space inside the stadium even though the space is available,” he said.
The association said, “The Ministry of Culture said that it was impossible to invest government funds in the construction of the office building in the Cheonan Center since 2021. I understand that the association has maintained a policy that is impossible to balance because various sports organizations have been constantly expressing difficulties in securing office space but have not been able to solve it,” but added, “The recently reopened building of the Korea Sports Council has greatly helped a number of sports organizations that have requested the government to provide office space and resolved their long-cherished desire. I think it would be appropriate for the government to help our soccer association secure office space.”
“Of the construction costs of the Cheonan Center, 8.3 billion won is supported by FIFA. FIFA highly appreciates and supports the symbolism of the project, saying, “Our association deserves to be an example for member countries to achieve a huge soccer infrastructure with the support of local governments and governments based on its own budget of more than 100 billion won.” “The Korea Football Association is pushing to build a soccer center on its own, but it is difficult for the association to build it with its own power. We are trying to create infrastructure that will be the basis for mid- to long-term development of Korean soccer. Considering this, we ask the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to help us build a soccer center.”
However, looking back on the series of trends revealed during the ministry’s audit process, it is effectively more of a absurd explanation. The reason is that the ministry applied for subsidies on the condition that there was no office space in the mini stadium in the first place, and secretly pushed for the establishment of office space even by submitting false documents, only after it was caught during the audit process, saying that it would “consult with the Ministry of Culture and Sports,” or that the government or the ministry wants to overlook the situation by mentioning FIFA.
In fact, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s audit, the Korea Football Association agreed to receive subsidies twice in July 2021 and May 2022 except for office spaces in the mini-stadium during the consultation process with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. In December 2022, the company also prepared a business plan to create an office space in a separate facility (office building) in the soccer center and applied for subsidies in 2022.
However, the KFA unilaterally decided to assign office space to a mini-stadium in March last year, citing reduced construction costs. The ministry’s audit results show that Chairman Chung made the final decision after receiving briefings from the executive meeting. In September that year, the KFA’s presidential office, the secretary general’s office and the office were placed on the third floor of the mini-stadium, 안전놀이터 which received approval for construction.
However, the Korea Football Association applied for subsidies of 5.6 billion won to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in December of that year due to “false content” that omitted the arrangement of office space in the mini stadium even after receiving a building permit, and the subsidiary business (Korea Sports Council) approved and issued subsidies according to the contents of the grant application. Even though it submitted a performance report for the settlement of subsidized projects after the execution of subsidies in June this year, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s audit found that it submitted a statement of settlement documents on the third floor of the mini stadium that did not include office space but a false drawing without an office space.