Much-maligned football chief Chung Mong-gyu announces bid for 4th term, vows ‘bold innovations’

Defying persistent calls for his resignation, the incumbent national football chief Chung Mong-gyu formally announced his bid for a fourth term Thursday.

Chung, 62, has been leading the Korea Football Association (KFA) since January 2013.

Chairman of the real estate developer HDC Hyundai Development Co., Chung defeated three candidates in his first election, and then ran unopposed in the next two elections. For the upcoming election, scheduled for Jan. 8, Chung will go up against two candidates: Huh Jung-moo, former head coach of the South Korean men’s national team and ex-KFA vice president under Chung, and Shin Moon-sun, a former player who enjoyed a long run as a popular television commentator and then turned to football administration and academics.

“There were moments when I wanted to give it all up. However, as someone who has worked so hard for the growth of South Korean football over the past dozen years, I didn’t think it would be a responsible thing to do,” Chung said at a press conference in Seoul announcing his reelection bid. “I will fully accept all criticism for things that the KFA and I have done wrong, and use that to fuel the further growth of the KFA.”

Chung said he wanted to oversee the end of projects he started on his watch, including the construction of the new national football headquarters in Cheonan, some 85 kilometers south of Seoul, and the expansion of the promotion-relegation system in football to cover lower levels of competition.

“I’ve had people tell me that without continuity, those projects could take a few steps back,” Chung added. “They told me I had to be responsible and see those projects through to the end.”

According to the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC), heads of national sports federations seeking reelection beyond the second term must be approved by its Commission for Fair Play in Sport. Chung got his clearance Dec. 11.

Chung vowed to undertake “bold innovations” and help raise South Korean football’s global competitiveness.

“With open communication as the core value, I will reform the governance system at the KFA,” Chung said. “I will hire young and talented people who’ve been working hard for Korean football behind the scenes.”

Chung has been under mounting pressure to step down for well over a year.

In March 2023, Chung was panned for attempting to pardon former players who were banned for fixing matches, but while multiple KFA vice presidents resigned en masse to take the fall, Chung stayed put.

Chung faced more heat after hiring Jurgen Klinsmann as the new head coach of the men’s national team last year. Chung was accused of bypassing officials in charge of the coaching hiring process and instead directly contacting Klinsmann, who was fired in February this year after South Korea’s loss in the semifinals at the Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup.

Criticism against Chung reached a fever pitch in July after the KFA’s hiring of Hong Myung-bo as Klinsmann’s replacement. Critics of the decision pointed to a lack of transparency on the KFA’s part during the process and said the organization ignored its own vetting process before putting Hong in charge.

The public outcry prompted the sports ministry to investigate the KFA’s operations, and in early November, the ministry demanded at least the suspension of Chung from his duties. The KFA has said it would consider appealing that decision.

The sports ministry has also threatened to cut off its subsidies to the KFA, though Chung shrugged off such possibilities.

“I don’t think they would do it just because they hate me,” Chung said. “I don’t think they will reduce subsidies for no particular reason. We’ll try to persuade the ministry.”

Chung said it was “unfortunate” that criticism toward the KFA spilled over to the field and affected the performance of the men’s national team, referring to South Korea’s lackluster, goalless draw against the lowly Palestine in a World Cup qualifying match in Seoul in September.

Chung also chose to look on the brighter side, saying, “I used those moments to reflect on myself, and I am grateful for that opportunity.”

Chung said Thursday he would ensure more transparency when appointing national team coaches in the future and further empower the National Teams Committee, the KFA body nominally responsible for the coaching hiring process.

He also defended the way the KFA went about its hiring of Hong. In the weeks leading up to that decision, the KFA had come close to naming American tactician Jesse Marsch as the new men’s boss before talks fell through at the last minute. It had also interviewed other foreign-born candidates before abruptly pivoting toward Hong.

“When it comes to hiring national team coaches, the National Teams Committee makes its recommendation and the president makes the final call through the board of directors meeting. I believe we stuck to that process,” Chung said. “With these personnel decisions, I think only the final result should have been made public. But the entire process kept getting leaked to the media. That should never happen again, and I think that caused so much criticism.”