South Korea football crisis deepens as referee allegations hit KFA
South Korea’s football authorities face a widening governance and reputational crisis after allegations that foreign referees were provided with sexual services during international fixtures were followed by a police investigation into the national team coaching appointment process.
The Korea Football Association has apologised after allegations that foreign referees were provided with sexual services during international matches in 2011 and 2012, adding another governance issue to mounting scrutiny of the organisation.The allegations relate to seven occasions between March 2011 and March 2012, including qualifying matches for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and London 2012 Olympics. A 2016 investigation by South Korea’s sports ministry reportedly identified visits to massage parlours paid for using KFA funds.The KFA said: “We deeply apologise for causing concern over various issues involving the association, which emerged from a parliamentary hearing and an unprecedented search and seizure, and from reports about events from more than a decade ago, that even many within the organisation were unaware of.”The association said conduct of that nature and the use of corporate cards for such purposes were not taking place today.The allegations were based on documents from the sports ministry investigation. A former KFA official was reported as saying the association had sought to have referees “blow their whistles in our favour”.Officials involved in the matches reportedly came from countries including Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Bahrain and Uzbekistan. South Korea won five of the seven matches in question and drew the other two, although there is no evidence cited that the alleged services affected match outcomes.The revelations create further reputational pressure on one of Asian football’s most prominent national associations at a time when the KFA is already facing scrutiny over its management and decision-making.Seoul police raided KFA headquarters on August 6 as part of a separate investigation into the 2024 appointment of former South Korea head coach Hong Myung-bo.Hong’s appointment followed a months-long recruitment process involving foreign candidates and attracted criticism over how the KFA selected him. South Korea’s sports ministry subsequently found breaches of internal procedures in the appointments of Hong and his predecessor Jurgen Klinsmann, although it did not identify illegal conduct that would invalidate their contracts.Hong resigned following South Korea’s group-stage exit from the 2026 FIFA World Cup, bringing renewed attention to the association’s leadership and governance processes.KFA president Chung Mong-gyu had already announced before the World Cup that he would step down after the tournament following sustained criticism of his leadership.The combination of the historical referee allegations and the police investigation leaves the KFA facing questions extending beyond national team performance into governance, internal controls and institutional oversight as South Korean football prepares for its next leadership phase.