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Police raid South Korea’s football HQ as part of probe into woeful World Cup campaign.

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Police raid South Korea

Police in South Korea raided the country’s football association on Thursday as part of a probe into the appointment of the coach who oversaw their woeful World Cup campaign.
 
According to AFP, police conducted ‘search and seizure operations’ at the Korea Football Association (KFA) offices amid allegations of ‘obstruction of business’ in the recruitment of ex-coach Hong Myung-bo.
 
Hong, 57, resigned in June after South Korea were knocked out at the group stage following a shock 1-0 defeat by South Africa.
 
Questions were already dogging the Korean Football Association over the 2024 appointment of Hong, but scrutiny has intensified since the team failed to make the last-32 knockout stage.
 
Seoul police said financial crimes investigators were ‘looking into whether there were charges of obstruction of business during the appointment of Hong Myung-bo’, a spokesman told AFP.
 
Local media reported authorities are investigating whether senior KFA officials improperly intervened in Hong’s appointment, allegedly in violation of internal rules.
 
In late July, Hong was summoned before a committee of lawmakers, where he said he took ‘full responsibility’ for the poor performance.
 
President Lee Jae Myung blamed the failure on ‘incompetent people’ promoted to leadership in a statement alluding to ‘loyalty and factionalism’ tainting recruitment at the sport’s top level. The KFA declined to comment when contacted by AFP.
 
Hong’s decision to leave former Tottenham Hotspur star Son Heung-min on the bench in the first half for the decisive match against South Africa at the World Cup baffled and angered many supporters.
 
In June, South Korea fans greeted Hong’s return from the World Cup with boos and chants of ‘Hong out!’ while applauding the players who emerged behind him at the airport. Hong admitted he was struggling to understand what had gone wrong.
 
At last month’s parliamentary hearing, MPs also raised claims that Hong had enjoyed a salary of 3.8billion won ($2.6million). Hong insisted at the time the figure was wrong, but declined to reveal the correct one.

𝕤𝕖𝕖 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖/𝕨𝕒𝕥𝕔𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕧𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕠 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖

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