South Korea Football Association took referees to massage parlours for sexual entertainment: Report
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "South Korea Football Association took referees to massage parlours for sexual entertainment: Report")
Korea Football Association paid for adult entertainment for referees. Photograph: (AFP)
Match referees visiting Korea for World Cup and Olympic qualifiers, and other international matches, were taken to massage parlours and other adult entertainment centres, with the Korea Football Association paying for the services with business credit cards.
The Korea Football Association (KFA) is under the scanner after a report revealed that the federation provided sexual entertainment to foreign referees before and after international matches. According to a government audit report, the referees visited massage parlours in Seoul and other cities, and the KFA used business credit cards to pay for the services. This happened at international matches between March 2011 and March 2012, including qualifying games for the 2012 London Olympics and the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
While the report was compiled in 2016, it only came to light this week following an investigation into the KFA's appointment of former coach Hong Myung-bo in 2024. KFA provided the sexual favours to 12 referees and match coordinators from Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Bahrain and Uzbekistan across seven matches. Reports by the Yonhap News Agency show that South Korea won five of these matches, while two of them were drawn.
The matches where officials were provided sexual entertainment
South Korea beat Oman 2-0 on September 21, 2011, and then drew against Qatar 0-0on March 14, 2012, in two games played for Olympic qualification. South Korea was already through to the Olympics by this time. On February 29, 2012, South Korea beat Kuwait 2-0 and entered the next phase of the World Cup qualification.
After the 206 audit, the then KFA president, Cho Chung-yun, was referred to police by South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for misuse of funds. The same report also found that current and former KFA staff had used business credit cards at massage parlours and other such places. The ministry said on Friday that the claims of sexual entertainment being provided to the referees were investigated at the time, but could not be verified. The KFA did not reprimand or punish any official for misusing the credit cards.
Meanwhile, the KFA is likely to face punishment now since the organisation's Code of Ethics bars most cases from being pursued after five years. While bribery and corruption allegations have a 10-year limitation period, there is no such limit for sexual abuse, harassment or exploitation. However, paying for sexual entertainment does not fall under this ambit.
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According to KFA officials, seeking adult entertainment by the referees was "common practice at the time." One of them told news outlet JTBC that sexual entertainment for officials is not limited to South Korea and is prevalent in other countries on a much larger scale.
