Police raid South Korea FA over naming of ex-head coach

South Korean police on Thursday raided the national football association (KFA) over allegations that it manipulated the 2024 appointment of former men's national team oach Hong Myung-bo, the country's official news agency Yonhap reported.

Officers seized files and secured smartphone and computer data from senior officials during the raid at KFA's headquarters in Cheonan, about 90 kilometres from Seoul, and at offices in the capital, the report said.

The allegations are not new. Observers said at the time that Hong had not gone through the prescribed application process when he landed a second term in charge in July 2024.

Hong, 57, had already failed as the country's national team coach at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, when it failed to reach the knockout stages.

The case drew renewed attention this summer when South Korea went out in the group stage again at the World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Hong resigned shortly afterwards but this did little to calm public anger. Even South Korea's president, Lee Jae Myung, called for consequences.

He was "not only astonished by this unexpected result but finds it downright absurd," Lee wrote in a detailed statement on X.

The failure, "which has disappointed citizens, appears to be due to shortcomings in organization and human resources", Lee said, directing his criticism mainly at the domestic association's choice of Hong.