“You said a lot, ‘I don’t understand’.”
Chung Mong-kyu, chairman of the Korea Football Association (KFA), delivered the reaction of Gianni Infantino (Switzerland) president of FIFA to the controversy over the process of appointing Hong Myung-bo as coach. The explanation is to the effect that there is no problem with the appointment of Hong as the FIFA president does not understand the controversy itself.
Chairman Chung Mong-kyu met with reporters ahead of the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) annual awards ceremony held at Kyung Hee University Peace Hall in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul on the 29th and explained, “I explained well to President Infantino and reported a lot about the appointment of the coach.”
“He said a lot about the controversy over the appointment of Hong Myung-bo,” Chairman Chung said. “I explained it as it is. He said, ‘Isn’t it all the responsibility of the president of the Korea Football Association?'”
Regarding Chairman Chung’s expression of “responsibility,” a KFA official added, “It does not mean that the chairman should be responsible for the controversy, but that he has the “authority” to appoint the coach.” In sum, it means that Infantino does not understand the controversy itself, as the appointment of the national team coach is ultimately the chairman’s authority.
This is in line with Infantino’s direct defense of the KFA the day before. Infantino visited the soccer center in Jongno-gu, Seoul, and talked with Chairman Chung after entering the country on the 28th to attend the AFC Awards. At that time, Infantino said, “KFA is running well and the authority to appoint a coach is also with the KFA.”
Following FIFA’s earlier sending an official letter warning that autonomy in football administration should be secured, mentioning the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s audit, Chairman Chung and the KFA are also gaining strength as Infantino himself defended the KFA. Until now, the KFA has maintained that there is no problem in the process of appointing Hong Myung-bo, including immediately refuting the interim audit results of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism that there is a problem in the selection process. 메이저놀이터
Looking back on his appearance at the National Assembly twice, Chairman Chung repeated his previous position, saying, “In a big way, I recommended it by the Power Enhancement Committee and appointed it with appropriate measures, but I regret that I looked at it too much under a microscope.”
Meanwhile, Son Heung-min (Tottenham) won his fourth international award of the year, while Park Yoon-jung (U-20), the coach of the U-20 women’s national team, won the Women’s Coach of the Year award. Seol Young-woo (Trvena Zvezda), who was nominated for the Player of the Year award, and Hwang Sun-hong, the former coach of the U-23 national team, failed to win the award.