The K-Football Innovation Committee is pushing to expand the Korean Football Association's election committee from the current 200 members to over 10,000.
Park Ji-sung, co-chair of the K-Football Innovation Committee, announced this initiative during a briefing following the committee's fourth meeting at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Jongno, Seoul, on July 27. The meeting addressed three key issues: reforming football governance, developing youth players, and ensuring the independence of the Strengthening Committee.
The most notable proposal is the overhaul of the election system for the KFA president. Currently, the election process is indirect, with about 200 voters, including ex-officio delegates such as city and provincial association presidents and representatives from professional K-League clubs, as well as randomly selected players, coaches, and referees. Critics have pointed out that this limited voting pool fails to represent the over 100,000 registered players in the association.
Regarding the expansion of the election committee, Park stated, "We are considering adjustments based on the Korean Sports Council's election committee reform plan to reflect the characteristics of the sport. We plan to include professional, amateur, university, and promotion-relegation criteria, which could lead to a recommended committee size of over 10,000, with a significant proportion being players and coaches."
He added, "We will discuss the amendment to the Sports Council's member organization regulations, which will serve as the basis for this reform, and aim to complete the revision process by August."
Earlier, the Sports Council held a special delegate meeting on July 16, where it approved a plan to expand its election committee from 2,244 to 92,194 members, nearly a 41-fold increase. This reform grants voting rights to executives, delegates, coaches, referees, and includes qualified players in the election committee.
If the KFA election committee expands to over 10,000 members, changes to the voting method will likely be necessary. However, Park expressed caution regarding the specifics of implementing electronic voting due to the complexities involved. He remarked, "We need to consider various aspects, including budgetary issues, to determine the most practical approach moving forward."
The meeting also placed significant emphasis on youth development and the Strengthening Committee's agenda. Park noted that discussions on youth development focused on innovating the player registration paradigm and the association's system, expanding facility infrastructure in collaboration with local governments, and increasing participation in international competitions.
Regarding the Strengthening Committee, he mentioned, "We discussed ways to enhance professionalism and fairness in the coach selection process. Today was an opportunity to share various perspectives and problem awareness, and we will delve into more specific discussions at the next meeting."
Previously, the Innovation Committee faced criticism for not transparently releasing meeting minutes, raising concerns that it might be repeating the KFA's history of opaque governance.
In response to the criticism about not documenting the minutes, Park explained, "I thought it was not appropriate for various comments to be shared externally, and I wanted to show the committee reaching a consensus. Therefore, I opted to provide a briefing as the chair after the meeting. Necessary records will be kept in writing."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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