The National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee holds a plenary session on July 9. [Yonhap]
The National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee holds a plenary session on July 9. [Yonhap]

The Korea Football Association, which issued a public apology a decade ago over the personal misuse of corporate cards, has been found still making repeated purchases at department stores and gas stations with no specific restrictions in place.

According to data obtained from the KFA by Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Jin Sun-mi — a member of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee representing Seoul's Gangdong-gu — 18 current and former KFA executives and employees used corporate cards 1,496 times between 2011 and 2012, spending about 200 million won ($136,000) at entertainment establishments, massage parlors, golf courses, department stores and gas stations. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism uncovered the violations in a 2016 probe, which led to a police investigation, and the KFA posted a public letter of apology at the time.

Yet the same types of spending flagged a decade ago — at department stores and gas stations — have continued. Jin's analysis found 218 department store transactions totaling 26.03 million won, and 300 gas station transactions totaling 51.88 million won. Gas station charges are particularly notable: the KFA itself had issued an internal notice pledging to block such payments.

Lax corporate card guidelines, weaker than those of other sports associations, are widely cited as a key reason the problem persists. The Korea Archery Association restricts card use across 58 business categories — including not only gift vouchers and alcohol but also men's and women's ready-to-wear clothing, gift items, accessories, leisure goods, skin care salons and sports massage services. The KFA's own guidelines, by contrast, contain no restrictions on categories such as department stores or children's clothing.

Post-use oversight has also proved wanting. While associations such as the Korea Archery Association and the Korea Athletics Federation publicly disclose executives' corporate card spending by March each year, the KFA did not do so until the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee flagged the omission in August 2024. Even after that, the KFA filed a disclosure stating "not applicable" — a claim that proved inaccurate — and only reposted executives' records after the discrepancy drew criticism. Even then, the corporate card records of national team head coach Hong Myung-bo were missing.

"The KFA must bring its corporate card usage standards up to the level of other sports associations and overhaul a management system that cannot even file proper disclosures," Jin said.


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