Embattled KFA Chair Chung Mong-gyu joins AFC Executive Committee

Embattled Korea Football Association (KFA) Chairman Chung Mong-gyu was elected to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Executive Committee in an uncontested election on Thursday.

Korea Football Association Chairman Chung Mong-gyu, center, watches the Korean national team's training at Al Egla Training Facility in Doha, Qata on Feb. 4. [NEWS1]

Embattled Korea Football Association (KFA) Chairman Chung Mong-gyu was elected to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Executive Committee in an uncontested election on Thursday.

Chung departed for Bangkok on Tuesday where the AFC election took place on the same day, attended an executive committee meeting on Wednesday as a co-opted member, and was officially elected as a full member of the committee on Thursday.

Chung, a highly controversial figure in Korean football, was the sole candidate for “AFC Executive Committee Member (East Zone),” alongside Mijgona Mahmadalieva of Tajikistan for “AFC Female Executive Committee Member (Central Zone).”

“On behalf of the Asian football family, I would like to congratulate Ms. Mijgona Mahmadalieva and Mr. Chung Mong Gyu on their successful election to the AFC Executive Committee and we look forward to their invaluable contributions in the coming years,” AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa said during the committee meeting in Bangkok.

The AFC announced the final candidate list in February, just an hour after the KFA National Team Committee recommended then-Korea manager Jurgen Klinsmann be fired amid growing calls for Chung to be removed as head of the association.

Klinsmann was eventually fired — although is yet to be replaced — with Korean football fans blaming Chung for his appointment, alongside a litany of other charges.

Calls for Chung to step down or be removed from his post have continued to grow in recent months, with a non-profit organization suing him for his role in the Klinsmann affair in February and fans responding with outrage after reports that KFA officials had torn down anti-Chung protest banners at a Korean national football team friendly in March.

The AFC Executive Committee is the highest decision-making body in Asian football. Chung will serve on the 30-member committee until 2027.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]