South Korean Assembly to review national soccer team coach appointment

Hong, Korea Football Association chief Chung Mong-gyu, and KFA Technical Director Lee Lim-saeng who headed the coaching selection, were chosen to be witnesses in the questioning by the members of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee. They are among 25 called to testify on sports issues, including alleged mistreatment of national athletes by the Badminton Korea Association.

Contention surrounding Hong's appointment is expected to headline Tuesday's questioning. The 55-year-old's second stint as the head coach of the national team has been mired with suspicions about irregularities in the selection process.

Former prominent members of the KFA were also called to testify in front of the lawmakers, including ex-KFA National Teams Committee chief Chung Hae-soung and a former member of the same committee Park Joo-ho. Chung, who had previously led the high-profile coach search, resigned abruptly due to "health issues" -- which fueled further suspicion over the appointment process -- and Park directly alleged open bias from the committee members in favour of Korean candidates.

The KFA denied the allegations made by Park and had warned of legal actions against the former national team player in July, which they dropped later after a barrage of criticism from fans and related personnel in sport. This included former national player Cho Won-hee, who said he was made "speechless" by the KFA's actions.

Fans were unhappy with Hong's appointment because of his poor performance during his first stint as national team coach. South Korea crashed out in the group stages of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil with the fifth-worst record in the event, the worst performance since 1998, when it was third-worst.

Already disappointed with the less-than-successful job by Hong's predecessor Juergen Klinsmann, fans had demanded a capable coach. Instead, it was reported that the KFA hired Hong without even a formal interview, while snubbing coaches that were widely deemed more capable.

The parliamentary committee will also address other controversies in soccer, including KFA Chairman Chung's possible run for a fourth term. Chiefs of the KFA were until recently only allowed to run for two terms and a third one with consent by the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee, but the committee abolished the restriction in May.

Chung did not publicly announce an intention to run, but he did refuse to step down despite the public's calls for his resignation, following the sacking of Klinsmann in February.

Sports Minister Yu In-chon himself said Friday that he believes Chung is seeking his fourth term, and said public opinion suggested it would be "honourable" for Chung to decide his fate on his own, which was widely interpreted as an indirect way of calling for the KFA chief's resignation.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is currently inspecting the KFA, the results of which will be announced by the end of this month. Another inspection of the aforementioned controversies surrounding the state-run badminton authority is also expected to wrap up later this month.

Yoon Min-sik

The Korea Herald

Asia News Network