South Korea's vice sports minister defends football committee amid FIFA independence concerns

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Sept. 2 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's vice sports minister on Wednesday dispelled concerns that a government-formed committee on football may be seen as meddling with operations at the sport's national federation.

Kim Dae-hyun, second vice minister of culture, sports and tourism, defended the advisory role played by the K-Football Innovation Committee during a press briefing in Seoul.

The committee was put together in early July, in the aftermath of South Korea's elimination from the group stage at the FIFA World Cup. At the onset, Chae Hwi-young, minister of culture, sports and tourism, was named a co-head of the committee, alongside former South Korean men's national team captain Park Ji-sung, though Chae later ceded the role to Ryu Seung-min, president of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee.

The ministry at the time said the committee will have "comprehensive discussions" on measures that can help bolster South Korean football's global competitiveness and cover areas such as governance at the Korea Football Association (KFA), youth development and adoption of the latest technologies.

The committee has had several meetings since and has come up with a series of recommendations for the KFA, including increasing the size of the electorate for the KFA presidential election.

FIFA, which has long stressed the importance of independence for its member associations, recently asked the KFA to share the latest developments in Korean football and reminded the South Korean body of its obligation to run independently.

FIFA planned to dispatch officials to South Korea for an on-site inspection next week but informed the KFA earlier Wednesday it had to postpone the trip due to internal matters.

"Before the launch of the committee, we all agreed that we must not give (FIFA) any reason to feel suspicious," Kim said. "We named Ryu Seung-min and Park Ji-sung as co-heads (and removed Chae from the role) in order to avoid controversy."

Chae has remained on the committee as a member, but Kim said, "The committee is an advisory body that cannot force or regulate anything. I don't think Minister Chae's participation as a member will be a problem."

Kim noted that the committee also includes representatives from the KFA.

"In the past, FIFA sanctioned countries for doing things so outrageous that they are beyond our imagination," Kim added. "I don't believe FIFA will have an issue with the committee."

Article 19, Paragraph 1 of the FIFA Statutes states, "Each member association shall manage its affairs independently and without undue influence from third parties."

Violations may lead to sanctions for the member association in question, "even if the third-party influence is not the fault of the member association concerned," according to the FIFA Statutes.