Investigation also at the top of South Korean football: police raid the Federation

Global football has entered the "sign" of controversy. South Korean police have raided the headquarters of the South Korean Football Association (KFA), as part of an investigation into how Hong Myung-bo was appointed as coach of the men's national team. The investigation comes shortly after the South Korean national team was eliminated from the group stage of the 2026 World Cup, a new setback that has amplified criticism of the federation's leadership and decision-making process, AFP reports.

• Investigation into the process of appointing the coach

According to a police spokesman, quoted by AFP, law enforcement officers carried out search and seizure operations at the headquarters of the South Korean Football Association. Investigators are trying to determine whether there were acts of obstruction of justice by affecting the proper conduct of the appointment procedure of Hong Myung-bo as coach. According to local media, authorities are checking whether high-ranking officials of the federation interfered improperly in the process of appointing the coach, violating the organization's internal regulations. When contacted by AFP, the South Korean Football Association refused to comment on the investigation.

• Controversies surrounding the Federation are not new

The current investigation comes after a series of disputes that have affected the credibility of the South Korean Football Association in recent years. According to South Korean news agency Yonhap and the Korea JoongAng Daily, the process of appointing Hong Myung-bo as head coach in the summer of 2024 has been challenged by several former internationals and members of the technical committee, who claimed that the procedure did not fully comply with the federation's internal regulations. The criticism prompted the South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to launch an administrative investigation into how the selection process was organized. Following the checks, the ministry concluded that there were procedural irregularities and recommended that the federation improve governance and transparency mechanisms. One of the most vocal reproaches came from former international Park Joo-ho, a member of the selection committee, who publicly accused the KFA leadership of the final decision being influenced by the executive management and that the committee's opinions were not respected. The federation initially announced that it would consider legal action against the former player, but later dropped the plan amid negative public reactions.

The federation's image problems, however, go back even further. In 2023, the KFA leadership was forced to withdraw a decision to pardon several people involved in match-fixing scandals, after a wave of criticism from fans, the media and former footballers. The episode ended with the resignation of several federation officials and significantly damaged the institution's credibility. Another difficult moment for South Korean football was the 2011 match-fixing scandal, considered one of the worst in the history of sports in the country. The prosecutors' investigation led to the indictment of dozens of players, referees and intermediaries involved in illegal betting networks, prompting the authorities and the federation to tighten rules on the integrity of competitions.

Hong Myung-bo, 57, ended his second term as national team manager at the end of June after South Korea were eliminated in the group stage of the 2026 World Cup. In late July, the former coach was heard by a parliamentary committee, where he said he took "full responsibility” for the national team's elimination from the final tournament, according to AFP. The poor performance has fueled criticism of the way South Korean football is run and the criteria used to fill leadership positions within the federation.

• President Lee Jae-myung: "Incompetent people were promoted”

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung has publicly reacted after the national team's elimination, saying the failure is the consequence of promoting "incompetent people” to leadership positions. The head of state also referred to what he described as the "scoundrels” that plague the recruitment process at the highest level of South Korean sport, suggesting that there are systemic problems in the administration of sports federations.

• Governance issues also affect other federations

Controversies over the transparency of decision-making are not unique to South Korean football. In recent years, several national federations have been affected by scandals over internal governance. The Spanish Football Federation has gone through one of the most serious The French Football Federation has been through one of the most institutional crises in its history following the scandal involving former president Luis Rubiales, while the French Football Federation has undergone a major restructuring following investigations into the management of former president Noël Le Graët. The two cases have brought to the fore the importance of transparency and internal control mechanisms in sports organizations, principles promoted in recent years by both FIFA and UEFA through their good governance standards.