2024-05-14 11:01:44
Chung Mong-gyu, president of the Korea Football Association (KFA), who is running for a seat on the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) executive committee, is certain to be elected.
AFC announced on the 14th (Korean time), “The 34th AFC General Assembly will be held in Bangkok, Thailand from the 15th to the 16th, and we will elect two new AFC executive members whose terms will run until 2027.”
In this election, Central Asian female executive members and East Asian male executive members will be elected, and Migona Mahmadarieva (Tajikistan) and Chairman Chung Mong-gyu are each running as sole candidates, so they are likely to win.
The AFC Executive Committee is the most authoritative decision-making body in Asian football and is made up of a total of 30 people, including AFC Chairman Sheikh Salman and five vice-chairmen. If Chairman Chung is included here, Korean soccer’s diplomatic power in Asia can also improve.
Chairman Chung ran for election as a member of the FIFA Council at the 33rd AFC General Assembly in February last year, but was bitterly defeated as he failed to rank in the top 5 out of 7 candidates. However, in June of last year, he was qualified as an AFC quasi-executive member ex officio by the AFC President. I am now aiming to become an official executive member.
Meanwhile, there is also a view that Chairman Chung’s bid for AFC executive committee is a behind-the-scenes effort to run for a fourth term as KFA president.
Chairman Chung served as the 52nd Chairman from 2013 to 2017, the 53rd Chairman from 2017 to 2021, and the 54th Chairman from 2021 to the present, successfully serving a third term, and is expected to run for a fourth term in the future.
The head of a sports organization can only run for a third consecutive term if it passes the review of the Korea Sports Council’s Sports Fair Committee, and if the head of the organization exercises influence in international organizations, the justification for passing the challenge will be even stronger.
After receiving a question about running for a fourth term in February, Chairman Chung said, “In 2018, we changed the articles of incorporation to limit the KFA president’s term of office to three consecutive terms, but the Korea Sports Council and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism did not approve it. I will replace my answer with that.” He answered. This can also be seen as an indirect way of conveying his intention to run for a fourth consecutive term as there are no restrictions.
However, as Korean soccer has experienced internal troubles due to the match-fixer pardon scandal, failure at the Asian Cup, men’s soccer failure to advance to the Paris Olympics finals, and the saga of former national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann, soccer fans’ gaze toward Chairman Chung is somewhat cold.
Regarding Chairman Chung’s fourth term, Lee Ki-heung, President of the Korea Sports Council, said, “It is a matter that must be decided by the Fair Committee of the Korea Sports Council after carefully considering the contribution, etc.,” and added, “We will decide (whether or not Chairman Chung will be reappointed) by carefully organizing the composition of the Fair Committee in the future.” “I will do it, there is still time, so I will look into it carefully,” he said.
Reporter Kim Won-geun photo provided by the Korea Football Association
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2024-05-14 11:01:44