Chung Mong-gyu, Hong Myung-bo Apologize for World Cup Struggles at 'Football Hearing'

[Anchor]

A hearing is currently underway at the National Assembly to inspect the overall management of the Korea Football Association. Attending as witnesses, former KFA President Chung Mong-gyu and former national team coach Hong Myung-bo apologized for the poor World Cup performance, but refuted allegations of backroom administration or preferential treatment in the coach selection process.

Reporter Pyeon Gwanghyeon has the details.

[Reporter]

The hearing began with criticism over the KFA's submission of inadequate materials.

[Cho Gye-won / Democratic Party Lawmaker: Shouldn't we at least know the cause to come up with countermeasures or do anything?]

Lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties strongly rebuked the poor World Cup results and the association's administrative chaos, while former KFA President Chung and former national team coach Hong apologized for the lackluster World Cup campaign.

[Chung Mong-gyu / Former KFA President: I feel sorry that the results fell short.]

[Hong Myung-bo / Former National Football Team Coach: I would like to first express my apologies to the public.]

They mostly denied various suspicions and controversies.

Regarding criticisms that proper procedures were ignored and fairness was violated during his appointment, former coach Hong maintained that there was no preferential treatment.

[Hong Myung-bo / Former National Football Team Coach: I think people might find it a bit opaque that we met in front of my house. I have never asked for preferential treatment or any benefits.]

Former President Chung also reiterated his previous stance that there were no problems with the coach selection process, and drew a line when asked if he intends to withdraw his appeal filed against the disciplinary action from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's specific audit.

[Chung Mong-gyu / Former KFA President: I think it would be overstepping my bounds as a resigned president to dictate this or that.]

In addition, when asked whether the exclusion of Son Heung-min and Lee Jae-sung from the starting lineup in the match against South Africa was due to internal discord, coach Kim Jin-gyu stated that it was "not true."

However, doubts are growing over the effectiveness of the hearing as Lee Im-saeng, former technical director who made the final decision on appointing coach Hong without proper authority, was absent, and issues covered during the parliamentary audit two years ago were repeated.

(Video Editing: Park Jung-sam)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.