Will the Korea Football Association directly impose a 'severe disciplinary action' on Chung Mong-gyu? Effectiveness remains an issue even with the court's ruling.

*This content was translated by AI.

A court has ruled that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's (MCST) demand for severe disciplinary action against Chung Mong-gyu (64), President of the Korea Football Association, is lawful. The court also deemed the illegal and improper matters revealed through a special audit of the Korea Football Association, including the appointment procedures for Jurgen Klinsman (Germany) and Hong Myung-bo as coaches, to be inappropriate.

Previously, the Seoul Administrative Court's Administrative Division 5 (Presiding Judge Lee Jeong-won) ruled on the 23rd that the plaintiff (the Korea Football Association) lost the lawsuit seeking to cancel the notification of the special audit results and the demand for measures against the MCST. The court rejected the Korea Football Association's argument that the MCST's disciplinary demand against Chung Mong-gyu was illegal and should be cancelled.

The court stated, "While some of the plaintiff's pointed issues were inappropriate, this does not make the (MCST's disciplinary) demand improper or illegal. We determined that such a disciplinary demand falls within the scope of discretionary authority." The court's judgment on this day was that the MCST's demand for severe disciplinary action is lawful.

The MCST's demand for severe disciplinary action against Chung Mong-gyu dates back to July 2024, when fierce controversy surrounded the appointment process of coach Hong Myung-bo. At the time, the MCST launched a special audit of the Korea Football Association over allegations of unfairness in the appointment of the national team coach and announced the audit results about four months later, confirming 27 instances of illegal and improper handling of duties.

At the time, the MCST pointed out that Chung Mong-gyu had intervened without authority or failed to follow regulations properly during the appointment processes of coaches Klinsman and Hong Myung-bo. Additionally, improper handling of the construction project for the Korea Football Comprehensive Center (Korea Football Park) and the improper handling of pardons for individuals involved in match-fixing were also brought under scrutiny. Ultimately, the MCST demanded severe disciplinary action, such as suspension of qualifications or worse, against Chung Mong-gyu, then Executive Vice President Kim Jeong-bae, and Technical Director Lee Im-saeng. Disciplinary action beyond suspension of qualifications includes suspension of qualifications, dismissal, or expulsion.

After the Korea Football Association requested a retrial and the MCST rejected it, the association filed a lawsuit to cancel the special audit result decision and requested a suspension of enforcement. The court initially granted the 'suspension of enforcement,' which was upheld even in the Supreme Court's retrial last September. However, in the lawsuit claiming that the MCST's disciplinary demand itself was illegal, the court sided with the MCST. The court's judgment was that the disciplinary demand alone does not constitute an infringement of the Korea Football Association's disciplinary deliberation and voting rights.

With less than 50 days remaining until the opening of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America, the Korea Football Association is also deliberating on its response. A Korea Football Association official stated, "We respect the court's decision," while adding, "We will review the court ruling in depth internally before announcing our position." Once the ruling becomes final, the Korea Football Association must implement measures such as severe disciplinary action against Chung Mong-gyu as requested by the MCST and then notify the MCST of the implementation results. According to the Korea Football Association's bylaws, receiving disciplinary action beyond suspension of qualifications and not having the period ended constitutes a disqualification for executive positions.

However, it remains uncertain whether the Korea Football Association will directly impose severe disciplinary action on Chung Mong-gyu as requested by the MCST. Given the weight placed on the possibility of appealing against this ruling, there is also no 'mandatory force' requiring the MCST's disciplinary demand to be implemented.

In fact, even if the Korea Football Association does not implement the MCST's disciplinary demand, such as suspension of qualifications against Chung Mong-gyu, the MCST cannot directly discipline Chung Mong-gyu. It can only conduct another audit of the Korea Football Association in accordance with the Public Audit Act. Ultimately, whether the disciplinary action is implemented remains entirely up to the Korea Football Association, despite the MCST's disciplinary demand and the court's judgment this time.

The court also explained that while it did not accept the Korea Football Association's argument that "the MCST cannot demand disciplinary action against the association's executives," the plaintiff (the Korea Football Association) does not have to comply, and since the MCST lacks enforcement means to compel implementation, it cannot be said that the Korea Football Association's disciplinary deliberation and voting rights are immediately infringed.

However, given that the MCST's special audit revealed facts of illegal and improper handling of duties by the Korea Football Association, and the court has acknowledged this, it remains uncertain how long the MCST's disciplinary demand can be ignored. With public opinion already extremely negative toward the Korea Football Association under Chung Mong-gyu's leadership and the national team led by coach Hong Myung-bo, attention is now focused on how the Korea Football Association will respond this time.

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*This content was translated by AI.