Embattled KFA head Chung Mong-gyu picks up another role at AFC

Chung has expanded his influence in administrative roles in football despite facing criticism from Korean football fans since the beginning of this year for allegedly appointing now-sacked Korean national team manager Jurgen Klinsmann on his own.

KFA Chairman Chung Mong-gyu at a women's football match between Korea and the Philippines at Icheon City Stadium in Icheon, Gyeonggi on April 5. [YONHAP]

KFA Chairman Chung Mong-gyu will take the AFC Associations Committee vice chairman role through 2027, the KFA announced Monday.

The AFC Associations Committee is one of 16 standing committees within the Asian governing body that discusses and monitors matters between the AFC and its members.

The vice chairman role at the committee grows Chung’s presence within the AFC, as he was elected to the AFC Executive Committee in an uncontested election in May.

Chung has expanded his influence in administrative roles in football despite facing criticism from Korean football fans since the beginning of this year for allegedly appointing now-sacked Korean national team manager Jurgen Klinsmann on his own.

Calls for Chung to resign from the KFA chairman role have grown in recent months, with a Korean non-profit organization filing a criminal complaint for his role in the Klinsmann affair in February and doing so again in July for the chairman’s alleged involvement in appointing Hong Myung-bo to replace Klinsmann.

The call to appoint Hong was controversial not only because Hong had previously indicated his intention to reject the offer, but because KFA Technical Director Lee Lim-saeng appeared to bypass the selection committee — formed in February in search of a new manager — and appointed Hong unilaterally.

Lee said on July 8 during a press conference that Chung Mong-gyu had ordered him to take charge of the appointment process after former selection committee head Chung Hae-sung resigned a few days earlier.

The non-profit organization said in July that appointing Hong without the agreement of the KFA's national team committee interfered with the proper operation of the association, and offering him a job without first agreeing on salary was a breach of duty.

Chairman Chung has not commented on whether he was involved in the controversial appointment process nor has he publicly responded to the non-profit’s complaint.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]