Tag: soccer

Some people are beginning to connect the dots in regards to referee massage parlor scandal:

Some foreign media outlets, especially those in Japan, which co-hosted the 2002 World Cup with Korea, have been reporting on the latest allegations, which were made public last week and were revealed through a 2016 Korean government audit. The audit showed the KFA’s corporate credit cards were allegedly used to pay for sex services for visiting foreign referees at massage parlors and sexual entertainment facilities in Seoul and other cities that hosted international matches between March 2011 and March 2012.

These reports revived allegations that Korean officials bribed referees during the 2002 World Cup. 

“During the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, dubious referee calls in the knockout matches against Italy and Spain sparked referee bribery allegations from Western media outlets, including The Guardian and The New York Times,” Zak II, an online outlet by Sankei Shimbun, reported on Friday.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This makes me wonder if there are other instances of this going on and this is just the one time it was caught:

The national football association apologized Saturday over allegations that it provided sexual entertainment to foreign referees before and after international matches held in the country between 2011 and 2012.

The apology came after a 2016 government audit showed that the Korea Football Association (KFA) used corporate credit cards to pay for sexual entertainment for visiting referees at massage parlors and other adult establishments in Seoul and other cities that hosted international matches between March 2011 and March 2012.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This company in Chuncheon is getting a lot of free advertising due to the performance of Erling Haaland during the World Cup:

The hair tie worn by Norway’s star striker Erling Haaland at this year’s FIFA World Cup is attracting growing attention after it was revealed to have been made by a South Korean firm, company officials said Wednesday, adding the custom-made hair piece has already sold out.

The Kknekki hair tie, produced by Dooji Co., a company located in the Namsan Industrial Complex in Chuncheon, some 75 kilometers northeast of Seoul, caught the attention of football fans after Haaland wore it in every World Cup match, the officials said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is an absurd situation going on that hopefully does not impact the team’s preparations to play Mexico:

Korea’s national football team has effectively turned its back on parts of the domestic press just days before a World Cup showdown with Mexico, a rare and public rupture that exposes a deeper trust crisis between players and legacy media in a country where fans now fact‑check reporters in real time.

The rupture did not begin with tactics or results. It began with contempt, caught on a hot mic.

On June 7, during a light pretraining jog at the national team’s camp, two male Korean journalists mocked some of the players, including captain Son Heung‑min. The footage, laced with sneers about military service exemptions and leadership, later surfaced on the YouTube channel of the TV network JTBC — the local holder of broadcasting rights for this year’s World Cup — turning their backstage banter into public record.

The Korea Football Association (KFA) reportedly summoned the reporters two days later and issued a reprimand behind closed doors. No clear, immediate apology came from the journalists, and the rift widened even as the team beat the Czech Republic last Friday.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Of all the stupid things to have a physical fight over, you would not thing going to play ping pong would be one of them:

Woes for South Korean men’s national soccer team continued as its members were found to have gotten into a physical fight with each other before the big match, and the country’s soccer governing body reportedly contemplating whether to request resignation of head coach Jurgen Klinsmann.

The Korea Football Association confirmed Wednesday earlier reports by UK media that the team captain Son Heung-min got into an altercation with midfielder Lee Kang-in ahead of the team’s semifinals match against Jordan in the Asian Cup 2023, resulting in Son dislocating his finger. The row occurred as the team captain tried to stop Lee and younger members of the team from going out to play ping-pong before the crucial match.

The Klinsmann talked things over with both players after the incident, but Son and other veterans reportedly asked the coach to remove Lee from the starting lineup. The coach did not agree and started Lee in the match, which ended in a disappointing 2-0 loss and another lost opportunity for the country to win an Asian Cup.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.