*This content was translated by AI.
The Korea Football Association (KFA) is facing backlash after it was revealed that it provided sexual favors to international referees who visited Korea for past matches. While the KFA states that such incidents occurred during the tenure of former president Cho Jung-yeon Jeon (Chairman) under predecessor Jeong Mong-gyu Jeon (Chairman), and that the organization now strictly adheres to its established corporate card system, this news places the KFA in an even more precarious position given the already negative public sentiment.
According to a the 6th report by JTBC and sources within the football community, the KFA provided sexual favors to 20 individuals, including foreign referees and supervisors, between 2011 and 2012. The matches in question were seven games held domestically from March 2011 to March 2012: three World Cup and Olympic qualifiers and four friendly matches.
Specifically, sexual favors were confirmed in the following matches: March 2011 friendly match against Honduras (A national team, 4-0 win), friendly match against China (Olympic representative team, 1-0 win), June A national team match against Serbia (2-1 win), September 2012 London Olympics qualifier against Oman (2-0 win), October friendly match against Poland (2-2 draw, friendly), February 2012 FIFA World Cup Brazil qualifier against Kuwait (2-0 win), and March London Olympics qualifier against Qatar (0-0). Except for the March 2012 Olympic qualifier against Qatar, where sexual favors were provided to one supervisor, sexual favors were given to two to four referees in the other six matches.
KFA employees were found to have paid on behalf of these referees or supervisors amounts ranging from several hundred thousand won to over 1 million won for the purpose of providing sexual favors. These incidents took place in Seoul Gangnam, Ulsan, and Changwon, Gyeongnam. This fact was uncovered during a 2016 audit by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism but remained undisclosed until now—14 to 15 years after the acts occurred and 10 years after the audit revealed them.
The sexual favors toward referees occurred during Cho Jung-yeon Jeon (Chairman)'s tenure, while the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism audit and discovery took place in 2016, after Jeong Mong-gyu Jeon (Chairman) assumed office. The KFA stated, "Association documents are retained for five years, and since this incident occurred 15 years ago, it is difficult to verify all circumstances." However, they added, "Given the heightened social standards, we have established strict internal control and management guidelines for corporate card usage and are fully complying with them."
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*This content was translated by AI.
