'Facing severe disciplinary action,' Jeong Mong-gyu (Chairman) (정몽규 회장) to review whether to appeal with the Korea Football Association

*This content was translated by AI.

Following a court ruling upholding the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) demand for severe disciplinary action against Jeong Mong-gyu (64), President of Han Chuk-gu-hyeop (Chairman), the Korea Football Association has begun preparing its response.

A Korea Football Association official said on the 23rd, "We respect the court's decision," while adding, "We will carefully review the court ruling internally before stating our position." If the Korea Football Association does not accept the court's ruling this time and files an appeal within the deadline, the case will proceed to the appellate court.

On this day, the Seoul Administrative Court's Administrative Division 5 (Presiding Judge Lee Jeong-won) ruled to dismiss the claim filed by the Korea Football Association seeking cancellation of the notification of the results of a special audit and the demand for measures against the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The Korea Football Association lost the case.

The court explained, "While some of the pointed-out issues were improper, it does not appear that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) demand for measures was unjust or illegal based solely on those points. The court also determined that the disciplinary demand itself was within the scope of discretion."

Previously, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced that a special audit of the football association conducted in November 2024 identified a total of 27 illegal and improper matters, including the appointment procedures for former coach Jurgen Klinsmann and current coach Hong Myung-bo, improper handling of the construction project for the Korea Football Comprehensive Center (Korea Football Park), and improper handling of the exemption of football-related individuals involved in match-fixing.

Since the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism does not have the authority to directly impose disciplinary action on Jeong Mong-gyu (Chairman), the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism requested that the football association impose severe disciplinary action, such as suspension of qualification or worse, on Jeong (Chairman) (정 회장). However, the football association first filed an objection to the audit results and subsequently filed a lawsuit with the court to cancel the decision and requested a suspension of enforcement.

Initially, the court granted the request for suspension of enforcement, allowing Jeong Mong-gyu (Chairman) to run for and win the election for President of Han Chuk-gu-hyeop (Chairman). Subsequently, both the Seoul High Court and the Supreme Court upheld the same ruling despite the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's appeal. However, in this main trial lawsuit, the football association lost, thereby restoring the validity of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's disciplinary demand.

If the ruling becomes final without an appeal from the football association, the leadership of the Korea Football Association, including Jeong Mong-gyu (Chairman), is expected to face severe disciplinary procedures. However, the football community is leaning toward the possibility of an appeal by the football association.

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*This content was translated by AI.