Although the A match is imminent, there is a chaotic atmosphere due to the noise surrounding the Korea Football Association.
The national soccer team, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, will face Jordan (October 10) in the third Group B match of Asia’s third qualifying round for the 2026 FIFA North-China World Cup next month and Iraq (October 15) in the fourth round.
South Korean soccer is trying to make it to the World Cup finals for the 11th consecutive time, but it has not been cheered on by various controversies and suspicions from the Korea Football Association.
The announcement of the national team’s roster, scheduled at the soccer center in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 30th, also seems to have been less noticed than ever.
Coach Hong is criticized for not being fair in the process of taking office, and Chung Mong-kyu, president of the Korea Football Association, is under pressure due to the possibility of seeking a fourth consecutive term and pardoning the match manipulator.
On the 25th, key figures of the Korea Football Association attended a question on pending issues by the National Assembly’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, but failed to resolve national anger.
Lee Im-saeng, the technical director who attended the meeting with Hong and Chairman Chung, even expressed his resignation after being suspected of conciliation afterwards in a message he shared with Han, a member of the Korea Electric Power Corp.
At the time, Yang Moon-seok of the Democratic Party of Korea pointed out, “The 11th meeting (of the Power Enhancement Committee) was illegal, the part that director Lee was entrusted to was illegal, and Hong, who did not submit documents, did not conduct prior interviews, and conducted actual face-to-face interviews on the basis of the illegality, was appointed.”
Bae Hyun-jin, a member of the People’s Power, criticized the soccer association’s figures as witnesses, saying, “The process of appointing Hong is very far-fetched, and there was a problem with procedural legitimacy in the process.”
The pressure on the Korea Football Association is expected to intensify.
In July, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism conducted a basic survey on the Korea Football Association and found problems and switched to an audit, and will announce the interim results of the survey on the 2nd of next month.
It will deal with whether Hong actually took over as an unfair process, whether there is no problem with the director being delegated the full power of the final decision, and how normal the power reinforcement committee worked.
In addition, it is expected to point out the controversy over Chairman Chung’s bid for a fourth consecutive term and the Korea Football Association’s opening of a negative bank account worth 60 billion won without the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s approval during the construction of the Cheonan Football Center.
The Korea Football Association should prepare for the final announcement of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism audit scheduled next month as well as the national audit.
At that time, the committee decided on the adoption of the national audit plan and the request for attendance, including witnesses for the national audit, and called Chairman Chung as a witness related to the national audit of the Korea Sports Association on the 22nd of next month. 안전놀이터
Attention is focusing on what Chairman Chung, who said he was disappointed with the result of the questioning on the pending issue, will bring up.
While the Korea Football Association suffers from various audits, there will also be adverse effects on the team.
In the end, it is up to the Korea Football Association to settle the chaotic atmosphere and to resolve various controversies and suspicions.