Korea Football Association's headquarters / Yonhap
The national football federation said Tuesday it has amended rules guiding the hiring of national team head coaches so that it must now have prior consultations with clubs before poaching their bench bosses.
Previously, the Korea Football Association (KFA) was not required to have such talks with clubs beforehand and instead only had to notify clubs after hiring away their coaches, leaving those teams no choice but to let their tacticians walk out the door.
Most recently, the KFA hired Hong Myung-bo as the new senior men's national team head coach in July while he was in the midst of his third season as head coach of the K League 1 club Ulsan HD FC. The KFA took considerable heat from fans of Ulsan and other K League clubs for disrespecting the domestic league.
In other changes, assistant coaches and trainers for national teams will no longer be subject to approval by the KFA's board of directors before their hiring. The KFA said it followed examples in other countries to streamline the hiring process for these positions.
The KFA faced a monthslong probe by the sports ministry after its controversial hiring of Hong. During its investigation, the KFA also identified problems with appointments of national team assistants and trainers, saying many of them were not approved by the board.
The KFA also said the election for its president will take place on Jan. 8, 2025. The election committee must be formed by Dec. 12, and candidates must complete their registration between Dec. 25 and 27.
The term of the president will commence on Jan. 22.
The incumbent chief, Chung Mong-gyu, will likely pursue his fourth term in charge, though he is facing a murky future.
Following the conclusion of its probe, the sports ministry demanded the KFA at least suspend Chung from his duties. The KFA responded that it would consider asking the ministry to reconsider that decision. If a formal appeal is submitted, the ministry must respond within two months. (Yonhap)
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