South Korean football boss sparks online firestorm with comments on state of Chinese game
Korea Football Association president Chung Mong-gyu says illegal gambling is among the reasons, but netizens question his right to comment
South Korea’s football chief has sparked vigorous and heated discussion both in his native country and China after commenting on the latter’s football standards on Thursday.
Chung Mong-gyu, the president of the Korea Football Association, was among the attendees questioned when the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism answered questions from members of the National Assembly of South Korea.
At the assembly, politician Park Su-hyeon asked Chung why Chinese football was weak even though it had a population of 1.3 billion, and the 63-year-old said there were “many” reasons behind it.
“One of the points that is often mentioned is that of illegal football gambling,” said Chung, who took office in July 2016. “There have also been cases of excellent players [in China] not selected by the national team.
“Also, many people have suggested that Chinese players do not try hard enough but I am not sure if that’s accurate.”
Chung’s comments triggered heated discussion among Korean football fans, with one netizen saying it was “hilarious” for the president to speak like that publicly “even though it is a fact that Chinese football is weak”.
