Police investigating various allegations surrounding the appointment of former national football team coach Hong Myung-bo have forwarded former Korea Football Association (KFA) President Chung Mong-gyu to prosecutors on charges of obstruction of business.

The Financial Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced that it has sent former KFA President Chung Mong-gyu, former Technical Director Lee Im-saeng, and former Senior Vice President Kim Jung-bae to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office without detention on charges of obstruction of business by deceit.

They are accused of unfairly interfering with the duties of the National Team Committee, which holds the authority to recommend coaches to the KFA board of directors, and fabricating reference materials submitted to the board to conceal this fact.

Specifically, investigations revealed that the reference materials falsely stated that former Committee Chairman Chung Hae-sung had requested assistance with the successor coach selection process upon stepping down, when no such request had been made.

It was also reported that the documents included phrases suggesting that former Director Lee Im-saeng, who lacked the authority to select a coach, had "conducted the coach selection process based on legitimate authority."

Regarding former Coach Hong Myung-bo, the police decided not to forward him, concluding there was insufficient evidence to prove he was directly involved in the selection process.

The police also decided against forwarding other allegations involving Hong, such as suspicions of paying excessive compensation or defamation related to disputes among national team players, citing insufficient evidence.

Previously, the Seoul Jongno Police Station had been assigned a total of eight complaints regarding these suspicions starting in July 2024, but spent two years without taking significant action.

Later, as attention focused on the existing investigation following a World Cup elimination and remarks from President Lee Jae-myung criticizing the appointment as a "personnel failure," the police transferred the case to the Financial Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in July.

Afterwards, as the civic group Citizens' Livelihood Measures Committee filed additional complaints against former Coach Hong and others, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency consolidated and investigated a total of nine complaint cases.

Just one month after launching the investigation, in August, the police questioned former Coach Hong as a suspect and conducted raids on the Cheonan Korea Football Association and the football headquarters in Jongno-gu, Seoul, securing National Team Committee meeting minutes, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism audit materials, and electronic information from mobile phones.

Subsequently, former Senior Vice President Kim Jung-bae was summoned for questioning as a suspect on August 26, followed by former President Chung Mong-gyu on September 2.
 

(Photo: Yonhap News)