K-Football Innovation Committee says KFA presidential election to be held this year

Park Ji-sung chairs the K-Football Innovation Committee's sixth meeting on Tuesday. [Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism]

The next Korea Football Association presidential election — to be held with an electorate dramatically expanded to roughly 20,000 voters — will take place before the end of this year.

The K-Football Innovation Committee held its sixth meeting Tuesday afternoon at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul, chaired by co-chair Park Ji-sung, and announced follow-up measures and key outcomes related to the KFA presidential election. The KFA presidency has been vacant since Chung Mong-gyu resigned from the post.

Earlier, the committee had convened a remote video meeting on Aug. 4 and released a set of recommendations on the composition of the electoral college. The central proposal called for expanding the electorate from roughly 200 to approximately 20,000 — drawing on 2025 registration figures — to include 4,000 to 6,000 professional players, recreational players and coaches respectively, about 3,000 registered referees, and roughly 1,000 others.

The KFA has accepted the recommendation to expand the electorate and will move swiftly to amend its bylaws and complete other procedural steps, with a transparent and democratic election to follow within the year. The government and the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee said they would actively provide the administrative and fiscal support needed.

Park said the committee was committed to finishing the election this year. "Some preparation time will be needed procedurally, but the committee members and the KFA all agree that it must not spill over into next year," he said. "The association also wants to hold the election as soon as possible and is actively moving forward, so we expect it to happen this year."

Lee Young-pyo speaks during the K-Football Innovation Committee's sixth meeting on Tuesday. [Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism]

The committee also agreed that the national team coaching system needs reform to improve transparency and professionalism, and said it would gather input from the field before reviewing options for improvement.

On that point, Park said the committee could not directly intervene in the ongoing process of appointing an interim head coach, but added that it would "produce at least a set of recommendations on the best possible selection body — within existing regulations — for bringing in an outstanding permanent manager in the future."

Park also flagged practical concerns about conducting a vote at such a scale. "Given an electorate of nearly 20,000, the existing voting method has its limits," he said, adding that the committee planned to discuss with staff and decide on introducing a new system such as electronic or online voting.

The committee will also hold a forum to gather broader voices from inside and outside the football community. It will host an "open listening session" alongside its seventh meeting at 2 p.m. on Aug. 19 at the KFA Stadium's main auditorium.

Players and fans will be able to attend directly, and the session will focus on gathering diverse opinions from the field, centering on proposals for developing youth players.

yjc@heraldcorp.com