Second-rate soccer and third-rate politics: Will Hong Myung-bo's hearing help Korean soccer innovation? [★World Cup Biz Lee Jong-seong ⑤]

*This content was translated by AI.

Countries that win the World Cup experience an economic boom. This is because, amid a festive atmosphere where dopamine explodes, public consumption sentiment rises. Conversely, in countries that fail at the World Cup, consumption sentiment contracts and revenues related to the soccer industry also decline.

However, such World Cup economic effects are very short-term phenomena. The truly important part is politics. If politics excessively blames a country for failing at the World Cup, it only amplifies public anger and does little to help soccer innovation.

Italy: A nation that received foreign aid for political intervention following World Cup failure

In the 1966 England World Cup, Italian soccer fell into ruin after losing to North Korea. Upon returning home, Italian players were subjected to a tomato barrage by an angry public. In Italy, Park Ji-sung was called "the dentist." For Italians, his decisive goal was as painfully sharp as receiving treatment at a dental clinic.

Italian politicians did not miss this opportunity. Day after day, they raised their voices in the National Assembly calling for reform of Italy's rotten soccer system. Their target was Italian players who earned high salaries from professional teams but failed to display their true abilities at the World Cup.

Italy's professional soccer league, which was also facing a financial crisis, was put under scrutiny. The financial crisis of Italian soccer clubs stemmed from spending heavily on signing world-class players. This was a microcosm of Italy's politics and economy, which had been recklessly squandered amidst collusion between business and politics and corruption.

To reduce the worsening finances of soccer clubs, the Italian Football Federation temporarily banned the recruitment of foreign players before the 1966 World Cup began. This ban was extended indefinitely after Italy suffered its worst-ever result at the 1966 World Cup. The goal was to create opportunities for promising young Italian players to play in their domestic professional leagues. This was not a measure proposed by the Italian government or politicians; it was a pragmatic self-help effort by the Italian soccer community.

The ruling and opposition parties united as one team due to World Cup failure; K-Soccer Innovation Committee goes all-in on changing the Geoje election system

In 2026, South Korea resembles Italy from 60 years ago. "When incompetent individuals are appointed as commanders based more on factional loyalty than ability, the result is obvious," President Lee Jae-myung posted on social media (SNS), making soccer a core national governance issue.

Following the president's remarks, police moved quickly. Police investigating allegations of improper intervention in the appointment of former head coach Hong Myung-bo have transferred the case to the Seoul National Police Agency's Metropolitan Investigation Team's Financial Crime Investigation Division and are accelerating their investigation.

Politicians from both ruling and opposition parties have become "one team" thanks to soccer. Those who had been fighting each other now joined the public outcry criticizing the Korea Football Association (KFA) and former head coach Hong Myung-bo. Seminars on KFA innovation hosted by National Assembly members are also lining up. Moreover, the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee plans to summon former KFA President Jeong Mong-gyu and former coach Hong as witnesses for a hearing scheduled for the 22nd.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) has also launched the K-Soccer Innovation Committee. In a press release, the ministry stated that the committee was established "to discuss tasks such as improving Korean soccer governance, nurturing youth players, and introducing advanced technology systems." However, in reality, the K-Soccer Innovation Committee is likely to go all-in on reforming the Han Chuk-gu-hyeop (Chairman) election system. This is to eliminate cartels within the soccer community.

Of course, a direct election system allowing more people to participate in the Han Chuk-gu-hyeop (Chairman) election is welcome. However, considering that there are 100,000 registered adult soccer players, a direct election is unrealistic. Moreover, it remains uncertain whether changes in the KFA president election method will immediately lead to innovation in the association's governance.

As the number of electors for the KFA president increases, there is a risk that the election could turn into a "popularity contest." Depending on circumstances, this means an incompetent KFA president with a favorable public image could be elected. This is why soccer powerhouses select their KFA presidents through indirect elections. Therefore, the number and composition of electors participating in this year's KFA president election are crucial.

A hearing that is entirely detrimental to soccer development

The part that truly causes concern is the National Assembly's hearing on Hong Myung-bo. The hearing, scheduled for the 22nd, is likely to become a forum for condemning former coach Hong and the KFA.

Naturally, former coach Hong and the KFA should be criticized for failing at the World Cup and not maintaining transparent administration. However, it remains questionable how much the hearing will help Korean soccer development.

Fundamentally, most issues to be addressed through the hearing, such as the appointment of coaches and the operation of the KFA, are already under special inspection by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and police investigation. Moreover, if the hearing focuses on former coach Hong's incompetence regarding tactics and Yongin tactics where he repeatedly failed, it will only fuel futile controversies.

This is what happened in France's 2010 hearing. When France was eliminated in the group stage of the 2010 South Africa World Cup with one draw and two losses (finishing last, 4th) due to conflicts between coaches and players, the French National Assembly held a closed-door hearing. However, the hearing was filled only with criticism from National Assembly members against coach Raymond Domenech and provided little help to French soccer. As a result of accusations that the Oh Jik (CEO) team had lowered France's dignity, France wore jerseys with colored tops at the 2014 Brazil World Cup.

A Japanese writer who is highly interested in Korean soccer and sports left this message: "Korean soccer was disappointing. I think it is natural for citizens to be disappointed and angry, but even politicians like the president getting involved looks bad from a foreigner's perspective. Considering the case of baseball player Song Seung-yeon's hearing during the Asian Games eight years ago, I wonder if this will have a negative impact on Korean soccer."

As he said, political involvement is likely to negatively affect Korean soccer. The same applies to Hong Myung-bo's hearing, which could become the peak of political intervention. For second-rate soccer, even the National Assembly stepping in — isn't that essentially declaring itself third-rate politics? This is the lesson left by Italian and French politicians in 1966 and 2010, respectively.

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*This content was translated by AI.