'Foreign referee sex bribery' vice president signed personally... Football Association approved under guise of "referee massage," knew but imposed no punishment

*This content was translated by AI.

Circumstances have emerged indicating that the sex bribery provided to foreign referees by the Korea Football Association was an organized act that even received approval from its vice president.

According to a JTBC report on the 7th, the KFA provided sex services to over 10 foreign referees in a total of seven matches, including the 2014 Brazil World Cup Asian qualifiers and the final qualifying round for the 2012 London Olympics, from 2011 to 2012. The costs were paid using corporate cards at massage parlors in Seoul, Changwon, Ulsan, and other locations. The South Korean national team recorded five wins and two draws in those seven matches.

The expense processing was systematic. For the initial four instances of hospitality, documents were fabricated to falsely claim the costs were for meals or drinking sessions. It has been determined that an official in charge of the referee department at the time signed off on the documents while fully aware they covered sex bribery expenses.

Subsequently, the approval method became even more blatant. Immediately after the Brazil World Cup qualifiers in February 2012, a formal proposal was submitted under the explicit guise of "referee massage." The proposal passed through from staff to department director and finally to the vice president for final approval without any sanctions.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, which launched an investigation, classified this as "organized hospitality at the association level" and notified the KFA of severe disciplinary action against those involved.

However, the disciplinary measures ultimately fell through. The Prosecution Service ruled there was insufficient evidence for the charge of breach of trust in the line of duty, resulting in a "no grounds for prosecution" decision. In January 2019, the KFA held an personnel committee meeting and decided on "no disciplinary action" for those involved, who then returned to their duties normally.

Meanwhile, police initiated forced investigations on the 6th by conducting search and seizures at the KFA office in Cheonan-si, South Chungcheong Province, and the Seoul Jongno-gu Football Hall.

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*This content was translated by AI.