Ruling and opposition parties: “Unfair selection of national soccer team coach”… Hong Myung-bo: “No preferential treatment”

by times news cr

National Assembly Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, Football Association Current Issues Inquiry
“Jeong Mong-gyu violates the articles of association and gives full authority to the new president… Only 5 members of the ‘7 or more’ power reinforcement committee attend”
Criticism of ‘appointment for show after internal appointment’
Hong “Accepted because it was the first choice… Apologize to the people”

Football Association summoned to the National Assembly Korea Football Association President Chung Mong-gyu (front) attends the National Assembly Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee’s current affairs inquiry on the Korea Football Association as a witness and listens to questions from lawmakers on the 24th. National football team coach Hong Myung-bo (back row, left) and Korea Football Association Technical Headquarters General Manager Lee Im-saeng also attended as witnesses. Reporter Lee Hoon-goo [email protected]

On the 24th, ruling and opposition party members of the National Assembly’s Culture, Sports, and Tourism Committee criticized the selection process for Hong Myung-bo as head coach of the national soccer team during a questioning session on current issues with the Korea Football Association, saying that it was unfair. Coach Hong, who appeared as a witness that day, said, “I apologize for causing public outrage,” but added, “I do not believe that I received any special treatment.”

On this day, the lawmakers pointed out that there was a procedural problem in the process in which the Korea Football Association Technical Headquarters Director Lee Im-saeng received full authority over the national team coach from Chairman Chung Mong-gyu and the Power Reinforcement Committee and selected Coach Hong. Director Lee inherited the authority to appoint the coach when former Power Reinforcement Committee Chairman Chung Hae-sung, who had been leading the selection of the next coach since February of this year, suddenly resigned after selecting the final three candidates at the 10th Power Reinforcement Committee meeting in June. The final candidates included Coach Hong and two foreign coaches. Democratic Party lawmaker Kang Yoo-jung pointed out, “Delegation of authority requires a resolution from the board of directors, but nowhere in the agenda of the Korea Football Association’s board of directors does it say that authority is delegated to Director Lee.” This means that Chairman Chung unilaterally gave authority to Director Lee in violation of the articles of incorporation. It was also pointed out as a problem that Director Lee violated the articles of incorporation that prohibits him from serving concurrently as a member of the Korea Football Association’s subcommittee.

According to the Korea Football Association, this director received consent from five members of the Power Reinforcement Committee through an online meeting to proceed with the final candidate interview, negotiation, and internal selection. Democratic Party Rep. Yang Moon-seok said, “According to the Korea Football Association’s Articles of Association, the Power Reinforcement Committee is composed of at least seven members, but there were five people in attendance at this meeting.” “It is illegal for this director to have been delegated authority, and the coach was appointed on the basis of illegality.” A KakaoTalk conversation in which this director appeared to persuade a member of the committee on the day of the press conference announcing the appointment of Coach Hong, saying, “If a reporter asks, confirm that you agreed,” was also made public. In response, this director explained, “I will resign (from the association’s subcommittee),” and “I put my honor on the line and received consent from all five members.”

There were also suspicions that the Korea Football Association had already decided on Coach Hong and had already started the process of selecting the coach. According to Rep. Shin Dong-wook of the People Power Party, in the final candidate vote of the Power Reinforcement Committee, Coach Hong received 7 votes, tying with Coach David Wagner (Germany) for first place. When Rep. Shin asked, “Did you tell Chairman Chung that Coach Hong received the most recommendations?”, former Chairman Jeong Hae-seong answered, “Yes.” When Rep. Shin said, “Most recommendations mean one person,” Chairman Jeong explained, “I said that the two people had a tie with 7 votes.”

There were also claims that Coach Hong received preferential treatment compared to foreign candidates. People Power Party lawmaker Kim Seung-soo said, “There is a procedure for selecting a commander, such as submitting a coaching plan and conducting an interview, but Coach Hong became the coach without doing anything,” and “Shouldn’t the chairman appoint someone who didn’t even express his intention to apply (as a coach) at his own discretion?” In response, Chairman Chung said, “I appointed him fairly according to the procedure.” When asked by several lawmakers that day about his resignation and intention to be reappointed, Chairman Chung, whose third term ends in January next year, avoided giving a direct answer, saying, “I will consider all possibilities carefully and make a decision.”

Hong, who was leading the Ulsan team in the professional soccer K League 1, said several times that he “had no intention of becoming the national team coach,” but he ended up taking the reins. When asked if he had any intention of becoming the national team coach from the beginning, Hong said, “At the time, I had not received any offers from the Korea Football Association, so it would not have been right for me to say whether I would or would not go to the national team.” He continued, “I later heard that I was the first choice chosen by the National Team Strengthening Committee, so I accepted. If I had been second or third, I would not have accepted.” He continued, “I wanted to run away because I knew how difficult the World Cup national team was, but I made the decision with a sense of responsibility to serve the national team one last time.”

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Yoo In-chon, who attended the current affairs hearing as a witness that day, announced that he would announce the results of the audit of the Korea Football Association that began in July on the 2nd of next month.


Reporter Jeong Yun-cheol [email protected]

Hot news right now

2024-09-26 04:48:27

You may also like

Leave a Comment