"As many as 98 Korean coaching candidates, Hong Myung-bo was not among them" Former Jeon Ryeok-gang-hwa (Chairman) confesses to 'surprise appointment'

*This content was translated by AI.

Controversies over favoritism and procedural unfairness surrounding the appointment process of former national team head coach Hong Myung-bo sparked fierce debate again at the National Assembly hearing. Jeong Hae-seong, former Jeon Ryeok-gang-hwa (Chairman) of the Korea Football Association who held the key to the selection of the then-head coach, revealed that he had selected former Coach Hong as his top candidate.

Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Cho Gye-won raised questions during a National Assembly Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee hearing on issues related to the Korea Football Association held on the 30th, stating regarding former head coach Hong Myung-bo: "Hong Myung-bo, the privileged coach; now is it not time for his life, which has been marked by fouls and privileges, to come to an end?" He further pointed out suspicions of favoritism, noting that "he went directly to become a national team coach without even meeting the qualification period for a coaching license, and after finishing third at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, he continued to serve as Olympic head coach."

Continuing, Jo (Rep.) strongly criticized, stating: "The process of appointing a head coach with an annual salary exceeding 2 billion won through a bakery meeting by former Chief Technical Officer Lee Im-saeng was the very peak of unfairness. Because he was appointed unfairly, he could not demonstrate proper leadership in the national team, and despite having the best roster, he achieved the worst results."

In response, former Coach Hong rebutted: "I never requested any favoritism from the association, nor do I believe I received any. Since I was not a member of the Team Strengthening Committee, as someone who received and accepted an offer, I could not know whether my appointment was unfair."

During today's hearing, questioning also continued regarding former Jeon Ryeok-gang-hwa (Chairman) Jeong Hae-seong, who suddenly resigned in June 2024, causing chaos in the football world.

The remaining term of former Jeon (Chairman) Jeong Hae-seong and the background of his resignation were major points of controversy at the time. Following the dismissal of former head coach Jurgen Klinsmann in February 2024 due to poor performance at the 2023 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar, former Coach Jeong stepped forward as the person responsible for selecting a new head coach.

However, the formal appointment of a head coach was difficult to proceed. After appointing Hwang Sun-hong, U-23 national team coach, as interim head coach in March, the first-choice negotiation target, coach Jesse Marsch, moved on to become the Canada national team coach, and the second-choice candidate, Jesus Casas, head coach of Iraq, also declared his intention to stay. Ultimately, the selection process faced severe difficulties, including holding the June A-match under an interim coaching system led by Kim Do-hoon.

At that time, with the draw for the third round of Asian qualifiers for the North and Central American World Cup completed and the qualifiers set to begin in September, the national team was in urgent need of every minute and second. While narrowing down the final candidate pool, former Jeon (Chairman) Jeong suddenly resigned, resulting in an administrative vacuum and a complete breakdown of the situation.

When asked by Jo (Rep.): "Was head coach Hong Myung-bo among the initial candidates? Why did someone who was not even on the list suddenly appear?", former Coach Jeong explained: "At the very beginning, the list of 98 names had no domestic coaches because the K League season had not yet started. However, after failing to negotiate with foreign coaches, members of the Team Strengthening Committee suggested raising the target to include domestic coaches."

Continuing, former Coach Jeong stated: "After being narrowed down to three final candidates, I was entrusted by the Team Strengthening Committee members with the authority to determine the ranking. Accordingly, I decided to rank head coach Hong Myung-bo as first choice, and two foreign coaches as second and third choices."

Furthermore, regarding the process of appointing former Coach Hong after his own resignation, during which the Team Strengthening Committee faced a breakdown, former Coach Jeong drew a line on whether there was external pressure or unfair instructions, stating: "After being narrowed down to three coaches, I made the decision after being entrusted by the committee members."

The problem arose after former Coach Jeong stepped down. After his resignation, former Chief Technical Officer Lee Im-saeng of the Korea Football Association took over the selection process and abruptly pushed through the appointment of head coach Hong Myung-bo, causing the controversy over procedural unfairness to spiral out of control. Accusations continued that former Officer Lee abused his authority, which became a decisive starting point in the brutal history of head coach appointments.

Former Officer Lee Im-saeng, who stood at the center of these controversies, was also selected as a witness for this National Assembly hearing but did not appear in person. He submitted a letter explaining his non-appearance, citing his recent appointment as technical director of Cambodia's Nagaworld FC, and thus failed to attend the hearing.

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*This content was translated by AI.