Will national soccer team coach Hong Myung-bo be disadvantaged? It remains to be seen whether the Culture, Sports and Tourism Ministry will make an ambiguous request to re-elect the coach.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced the results of a specific audit by the Korea Football Association (KFA) on the 5th and notified them to devise measures to heal procedural defects, including re-appointment of the national team head coach. The final conclusion was that Hong Myung-bo took the helm of the national soccer team through unfair procedures.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, which began an audit of the KFA on July 29, confirmed that there have been a total of 27 cases of illegal and unfair business handling. Regarding Chairman Chung Mong-gyu, the general manager of the KFA, he called for severe disciplinary action beyond the suspension of qualifications. Obviously, Chairman Chung’s clear disciplinary name and the feeling of “finding a cure plan” ordered by director Hong Myung-bo are clearly different.
“It is inappropriate for the culture ministry to speak about civil contracts,” said Choi Hyun-joon, an inspector general at the ministry, who was in the final briefing for a specific audit. If the KFA cures procedural defects, it can maintain or cancel the contract with Hong Myung-bo. “It is difficult to say that the contract is invalid even though we are not a party to the contract.” This means that the ministry cannot directly deal with Hong’s contract.
Inspector General Choi Hyun-joon said, “Another measure can be taken by reopening the committee and following normal procedures.” However, even this is not compulsory. After all, it is up to the KFA to make all the choices. The ministry had no choice but to make such a conclusion in consideration of the regulation that the KFA has to respect the independence and autonomy of the KFA, which was warned by FIFA.
If the KFA re-performs the process of appointing Hong Myung-bo, it must take action within two months and report it to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Realistically, however, with the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 FIFA U.S.-North Korea World Cup in full swing, it seems unlikely that the KFA will make a decision to reject Hong and choose a new coach.
In addition, the KFA has never changed its stance since appointing Hong Myung-bo as the head coach of the national team in July. He firmly insisted that he had appointed Hong by following normal procedures even when public opinion turned cold. 토토사이트
The KFA’s re-appointment of Hong Myung-bo as head coach by setting up a committee to strengthen the team’s capacity is a complete reversal of previous allegations. The same applies to terminating Hong’s contract in the middle and bringing in a new head coach. Will the KFA, which is pledging its innocence, act to reverse its words.
There is literally no clear standard for the method to cure procedural defects proposed by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. There is no way to satisfy everyone’s tastes as soccer fans who are angry over the latest incident have different ideas. Now that fans are at a rock bottom, it is an act of mocking fans that they will select a leader based on certain criteria next time. The termination of the contract with Coach Hong Myung-bo seems to be the only way to make the angry public go away.
Even now, four months after Hong Myung-bo led the Korean national team, public opinion is still shouting “Hong Myung-bo is out.” However, chances are almost zero that the KFA, which has covered its eyes and ears to carry out its work, will reject Hong. Chances are high that the ministry will take advantage of the unclear content of the order.