"Korean Football '2002' Stuffed Need to accept social change and increase escape speed"
"Korean Football '2002' Stuffed Need to accept social change and increase escape speed"
Blog Article
The Korea Football Association and the Korean football community, which have recently faced harsh criticism for various issues, are still stuck in the '2002 Korea-Japan World Cup' and voices are being raised that change is necessary to solve the problems.
On the 2nd, the Korea Sports Press Association held a 'Policy Discussion on the Present and Future of Korean Soccer' jointly with Rep. Jeong Yeon-wook of the People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, at the National Assembly Members' Hall in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul.
This is a place set up to discuss the current state of Korean football and the Korea Football Association and ways to improve it, following the failure to win the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup this year, the failure to advance to the Paris Olympics, and the controversy surrounding the appointment of the national team coach.
Professor Yoon Young-gil of Korea National Sport University, who gave the opening remarks at the discussion, diagnosed the current situation by saying, “South Korean soccer is still not free from the inertia of the 2002 World Cup,” and “It is stuck in the inertia of 2002.”
Professor Yoon said, "The paradigm of 20 years ago has long since been replaced in the international football world, but the Korean football world is still sticking to the successful methods of 20 years ago," and pointed out that "the weakened diversity of the football association has also affected governance, causing various difficulties."
He said, "In order for South Korean football, which was stuck in 2002, to gain escape speed, it must accept and nimbly adapt to social and football environment changes." He added, "This is not to say that we should exclude the 2002 members from Korean football, but to accelerate it through nurturing leaders and players, reviewing governance, and reflecting 한국을 environmental changes."
The discussion, which was moderated by Professor Jeong Yong-cheol of Sogang University, was attended by Lee Jeong-woo, Director General of the Sports Bureau of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Han Jun-hee, Vice President of the Korea Football Association, Seol Dong-sik, President of the Korea Football Coaches Association, and Kim Se-hoon, reporter for Kyunghyang Shinmun.
Director Lee Jeong-woo said, "It seems that Korean sports organizations, including the Korea Football Association, are ignorant of environmental changes. They are stuck in a 'results-first' mindset and have fallen behind the times." He added, "It is unfortunate that not only are players and coaches excluded from management, but there is also no consideration for fans or the public."
The director also reaffirmed his plan to complete the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's audit of the Korea Football Association, which began in July, by the end of this month.
Chairman Seol Dong-sik said, "The football association system itself has collapsed. There is no communication with the field leaders, and communication has been cut off," and appealed, "I urge the association to listen to the voices from the field and reflect them in administration."
Vice Chairman Han Jun-hee apologized, saying, "As a member of the association, I would like to first say that I am unconditionally sorry for the issues that have caused concern, confusion, and noise. I also understand that expectations are high, so I am receiving a lot of criticism, and I sincerely apologize for not being able to meet them."
However, he said, "There are many things that I cannot accept about criticism that are excessively distorted or exaggerated or that cause conflict and hatred," and "When criticizing, it seems necessary to distinguish whether the problem is due to a flaw in the association's system or due to problems in the field or society."
Reporter Kim Se-hoon expressed his opinion, saying, "It was the soccer people who chose the national team coach. I think this should be recognized as a technical area," and emphasized, "In order for Korean soccer to become stronger, the Korea Football Association and the Professional Football League should work together to pave the way for talented players to go to Europe early."