Questions over pending issues at the Korea Football Association (KFA) by the National Assembly’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, which only made disparaging remarks and self-assertion in consideration of public opinion, left huge scars in the soccer community. It did not reach the initial wish to truly cover up the truth based on understanding and communication and move toward reform that the members and fans want.
Fairness and justice are topics that should be carefully considered. However, it is not fair to target a specific person, catch a stick of words and make an argument without looking into facts. It is not fair at all.
The same applies to the KFA’s controversy over the appointment of Hong Myung-bo as coach for the Korean national soccer team, one of the biggest issues. There are certain mistakes made by the KFA in terms of procedural legitimacy. Key examples are the KFA’s lukewarm response when Jeong Hae-sung, chairman of the Korea Electric Power Corp., who has been spearheading the process of appointing a coach, expressed his intention to resign, and the KFA did not notify the committee’s members first for security reasons during the announcement process. This provided an excuse for some officials, including Park Joo-ho, to claim that the committee’s procedure was planned after deciding on Hong in advance.
However, Chairman Chung and the KFA have been seriously seeking to appoint a foreign coach. The same holds true with the meeting with Jesse Marsy, the current coach of the Canadian national team, which collapsed in May. “After the interview, Chairman Chung once said, ‘Thank you so much for connecting me to this kind of coach,'” said the agent who arranged the interview for Chairman Chung and Masi. “In fact, I pushed for negotiations with Masi seriously.”
A month later, Chung’s attitude is the same. After negotiations with Masi, Chung arranged Hong Myung-bo at the top of the list and reported it to Chung. However, Chung instructed face-to-face interviews with David Wagner and Gus Poet, who were ranked second and third. Many believe that Chung would have accepted the Hong Myung-bo card if he had judged politically because it was a fake script and considered serving in the fourth term. On the contrary, Chung said he felt that he had a foreign coach whom the KFA wanted, and expressed his intention to resign. Talks about “playing with Hong Myung-bo” are not very convincing.
The same goes for mentioning the differences in interviews and locations of the three finalists. In any event, the appointment of the national team head coach is based on the concept of hiring experiences and special bonds. There are various ways to select the right candidates for the recruitment process. The venue can also be a cafe or an office. The same was true of hiring foreign coaches such as Uli Stielike and Paulo Bento in the past.
Let’s assume that Lee Im-saeng, the general director of the technical headquarters who finished his appointment as a director, hurriedly visited a foreign leader like Mashi, Wagner and Poet, and persuaded him at a cafe. Has this become an issue of controversy. 스포츠토토
When it comes to procedural issues committed by the KFA, it should correct them clearly and demand improvement. However, if the KFA claims various false suspicions as fact and draws public attention through witch hunt method, it will only hurt, not improvement or reform.