The KFA’s power reinforcement committee held its second meeting at the football center in central Seoul on Tuesday to discuss matters related to the appointment of the national team’s coach. The meeting was held in a closed-door manner without any press briefing.
KFA, which replaced former coach Jurgen Klinsmann (Germany), who was not only incompetent but also irresponsible, on the 16th, appointed Chairman Chung Hae-sung as the new head of the national team’s power reinforcement committee on the 20th and continues discussions to appoint and rebuild a new head coach for the national team. The new power reinforcement committee members were selected as Kimpo FC coach Ko Jung-woon, Sungsil University coach Park Sung-bae, commentator Park Joo-ho, former Gwangju FC chief coach Song Myung-won, Sejong Sports Toto coach Yoon Deok-yeo, Gangwon FC coach Yoon Jung-hwan, Moon Kyung-moo coach Lee Mi-yeon, QMIT CEO Lee Sang-ki, former Vietnam national team coach Lee Young-jin, and Jeon Kyung-joon, technical committee chairman of the professional soccer federation.
According to the soccer community, the meeting that day was very different from the first meeting held on the 21st. At that time, Jung Hae-sung, chairman of the power reinforcement committee, explained that he would appoint a coach based on tactical competence, fostering, performance as a leader, communication skills, leadership, coaching staff composition ability, and grades.
Chung said, “We agreed that both domestic and foreign coaches will be open to the public,” but added, “We put more emphasis on official coaches.” Names of candidates for the next presidency have also been mentioned to some extent. They include Ulsan HD coach Hong Myung-bo, FC Seoul coach Kim Ki-dong, U-23 national team coach Hwang Sun-hong, and former Gangwon FC coach Choi Yong-soo. However, most of them were incumbent K-League coaches. The appointment of them was burdensome as the season’s opening is just around the corner.
In particular, Ulsan supporters’ Cheoyong Warriors strongly protested. They said in a statement on SNS on the 22nd, “We express our strong regret over the decision of KFA to appoint the K-League’s active coach team, which was reported in many media. KFA is trying to avoid responsibility by using the K-League coach as a shield without feeling any responsibility for the recent series of events in Korean soccer.”
“I strongly condemn the appointment of all K-League coaches, including Hong Myung-bo,” Cheoyong, who also mentioned Choi Kang-hee’s case when preparing for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. “I will make every effort to protect them,” he said. “The K-League is no longer exclusive to following the K-League’s decision. It is the result of efforts made by fans, players, clubs and coaches.”
As the situation progressed, the committee eventually changed its mind to implement the provisional coach system. At the second session, however, the committee reportedly decided to implement the provisional coach system only, and has yet to discuss a candidate. The contenders are expected to be revealed at the third session scheduled for next week. If the process continues smoothly, the provisional coach will lead the national team in two consecutive games in Thailand, which will take place on Nov. 21 (home) and 26 (away) respectively.