'Failure to Reach World Cup Round of 32' President Lee: "Bewildered... Organizational and Personnel Failures" Directs Focus on Football Association

"If you prioritize loyalty over ability, the outcome is obvious"

Orders Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to analyze causes and prevent recurrence

Criticizes limited indirect elections in sports organizations... "Direct voting system w

President Lee Jae-myung has described the South Korean national soccer team's failure to advance to the round of 32 at the 2026 North and Central America World Cup as a failure of organization and personnel, and has ordered a structural reform of the management of sports organizations, including the Korea Football Association. This suggests that the matter is not simply seen as an issue of match results, but rather as a problem involving the appointment of the national team’s head coach, the overall responsibility of football administration, and the governance structure of sports organizations.

Yonhap News Agency

On June 28, President Lee shared a post by Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Choi Hwi-young on X (formerly Twitter), stating, "As a former honorary professional football team manager and a supporter at heart—a member of the Red Devils—I feel not only bewildered but also at a loss at this unexpected outcome." Previously, Minister Choi said, "Our hopes for the round of 32 have been dashed. I watched in suspense, but the result was elimination in the group stage," and added, "Korean football, which has fallen into a quagmire, must now collect itself and start again from the bottom."

President Lee identified the cause of this failure as an issue of personnel. He said, "Once again, it has been proven that personnel decisions are everything," and pointed out, "If you prioritize personal alliances over ability and select an incompetent person as a commander, the outcome is as predictable as fire." Although he did not mention any individual by name, his comments are interpreted as targeting the procedural legitimacy controversy surrounding the appointment of Head Coach Hong Myung-bo and the Korea Football Association’s decision-making structure.

President Lee further emphasized, "The reason that personnel who cannot distinguish between public and private interests and prioritize personal gain over the public good are possible is that oversight, checks, and accountability for those with personnel authority are either impossible or extremely difficult," adding, "Ultimately, for any organization, democratic composition and control, as well as the alignment of authority and responsibility, are essential."

He also mentioned the need to reform the election systems of sports organizations. President Lee stated, "Establishing democratic leadership and objective oversight and check systems in the private sector is a major policy task of this administration," and added, "Just as the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation changed the method of forming its executive board to a direct election by all members, I have directed administrative guidance so that sports organizations such as the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee and the Korea Football Association adopt direct elections by all relevant sportspeople, rather than a limited indirect election system by a small group of delegates. I understand this is being implemented well."

President Lee also called for the establishment of oversight and check systems. He stated, "In order to ensure transparency, fairness, and objectivity in operations, it is also important to establish strict oversight and check systems and to ensure that corresponding responsibility is taken for actions and results."

On the 28th, a photo of the national soccer team was posted in front of a convenience store in Jongno, Seoul. With the South Korean national soccer team's failure to advance to the round of 32 in the World Cup on that day, the distribution industry, including convenience stores that had hoped for a "World Cup boom," could not hide their disappointment. 2026.6.28 Yonhap News Agency

Additionally, President Lee issued an official directive to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for follow-up measures. He said, "The failure to advance to the round of 32 in this World Cup, which has left the public disheartened, appears to have been caused by organizational and personnel failures," and emphasized, "Given that significant taxpayer funds and national support are invested in World Cup participation, I ask the ministry to thoroughly examine the situation and causes of this incident, and to meticulously prepare measures for prevention and improvement."

He added, "I am deeply sorry for causing great disappointment to the public with such an absurd event," and promised, "We will promptly push forward with reforms in sports administration to prevent such incidents from happening again."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.