Sports ministry renews call on top football body to discipline leader

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Sports ministry renews call on top football body to discipline leader

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, April 30 (Yonhap) -- The sports ministry said Thursday it once again urged the national football governing body to act on the ministry's demand to discipline the sport's top official, in light of a recent court ruling siding with the ministry.

The ministry said it sent an official letter to the Korea Football Association (KFA) calling on the organization to penalize its leader, Chung Mong-gyu, and other senior KFA officials over a series of irregularities uncovered during the ministry's audit in 2024.

The ministry raised issues with the controversial hiring of Hong Myung-bo as head coach of the men's national team, among others.

Chung Mong-gyu, president of the Korea Football Association, speaks before the opening ceremony of Korea Football Park in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, on April 7, 2026. (Yonhap)

After having its appeal dismissed by the ministry, the KFA filed for and then won a court injunction to suspend the disciplinary demand. It allowed Chung to win his fourth term as KFA president in February last year.

However, the Seoul Administrative Court ruled last Thursday that the ministry's demand for disciplinary action against Chung was justified and fell within the scope of its permissible discretion.

With this ruling, the court injunction granted to the KFA will expire May 26. The ministry claimed Thursday the KFA must take steps to discipline Chung and others within a month of that expiration date, and must come up with measures to address its administrative wrongdoings within two months.

"The KFA must take this ruling by the court humbly," the ministry said. "We hope this will be an important turning point for Korean football to restore people's faith and take the next step in its development. We expect the KFA to take active steps to reform Korean football and we will closely monitor how it will implement necessary measures."

The Seoul Administrative Court also noted last week that the KFA is not obligated to unconditionally comply with the ministry's demand and the ministry has no means to directly discipline KFA officials or enforce measures.

The KFA has not yet decided whether to appeal the court's decision.