Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Choi Hwi-young speaks at the second meeting of the K-Football Innovation Committee, held Monday at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Jongno-gu, Seoul. [Yonhap]
Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Choi Hwi-young speaks at the second meeting of the K-Football Innovation Committee, held Monday at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Jongno-gu, Seoul. [Yonhap]

Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Choi Hwi-young has signaled a change in how the Korea Football Association elects its president, as the K-Football Innovation Committee held its second meeting to push for a broad overhaul of Korean football following the national team's round-of-32 exit at the 2026 North and Central America World Cup.

Choi shared an outline of the meeting on his SNS account Monday, writing: "Everyone agreed that public trust cannot be restored if the new KFA president is elected the same way as in the past."

"As committee chair Park Ji-sung announced immediately after the meeting, the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee has decided to amend the regulation requiring a new president to be elected within 60 days of a vacancy, in order to allow more time," Choi said. "This measure takes into account not only the football association but also the difficulties facing some other sports organizations left in an unstable state due to extended presidential vacancies."

He added, "We are pooling our wisdom together and building momentum, one step at a time."

Park Ji-sung, co-chair of the K-Football Innovation Committee and a member of a FIFA subcommittee, briefs reporters on the outcome of the committee's meeting held Monday at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Jongno-gu, Seoul. [Yonhap]
Park Ji-sung, co-chair of the K-Football Innovation Committee and a member of a FIFA subcommittee, briefs reporters on the outcome of the committee's meeting held Monday at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Jongno-gu, Seoul. [Yonhap]

The innovation committee held its second meeting Monday in a conference room on the second floor of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Jongno-gu, Seoul.

K-Football Innovation Committee chair Park Ji-sung met with reporters immediately after the meeting and said: "The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee has decided to amend the regulation governing member sports organizations that requires a new president to be elected within 60 days of a vacancy, so that the deadline can be extended when unavoidable circumstances arise."

"This is not simply for the Korea Football Association," Park said. "It is a measure that takes into account the difficulties of multiple sports organizations — including the water skiing, jiu-jitsu, modern pentathlon and hockey associations — that have remained in an unstable state due to vacancies lasting more than 60 days."

The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee plans to begin the amendment process Tuesday and complete it this month. The KFA will also work on revising its bylaws and drawing up improvements to its election system, with those matters to be discussed at the next committee meeting.


ygmoon@heraldcorp.com