Yonhap News TV

[단독] They say it’s ‘game performance’ based on the previous century… but the players only board when they arrive

[뉴스리뷰]

[앵커]

The Korea Football Association has decided to charter a plane for the match against Jordan next month, but the players will only be on board when returning home.

The Korea Football Association announced that it will operate charter flights if it deems it to be a special case considering match performance, etc.

Even this appears to be limited by the poor financial situation.

This is reporter Jeong Ju-hee.

[기자]

After finishing the match against Palestine, the national soccer team entered Oman via Qatar after a 15-hour journey.

There was a comparison with Japan, which chartered a plane for the European tour and the Bahrain expedition, and the controversy was further fueled by the response from Japanese media, who said, “We were surprised that high-level Korean players used regular planes.”

The Football Association will charter a plane for the two World Cup third round qualifiers against Jordan and Iraq next month, the first time in three years since the 2021 away game against Iran.

However, only the cheering squad, sponsors, and reporters will board the outgoing flight, and the players will only use it when returning home after the match against Jordan.

Athletes who leave the country ahead of the charter flight will have to take the ‘long road’ to Jordan via Abu Dhabi.

The Korea Football Association said, “We have been operating chartered flights in special cases, taking into consideration strategies such as performance management,” and “We judged that Jordan and Iraq were the strongest teams in the third qualifying round, so we decided to operate chartered flights upon return to prepare for the home game against Iraq.”

The charter flight was supposed to focus on the Iraq War, but that doesn’t explain why the players were left out of the charter flight to Jordan.

Ultimately, it seems to be a financial issue.

It is said that it basically costs 800 million to 1 billion won to launch a charter flight, but the cost increases if the length of stay is extended according to the team’s schedule.

The cheerleading squad, consisting of 209 people who used a charter plane for a short 3-day, 1-night schedule, received a participation fee of 1 million won, including accommodations.

The Football Association said it will operate the charter plane with the participation fee and the association’s own budget.

“It is a football association that receives a subsidy of 30 billion won and operates with a budget of 190 billion won. It is an organization that has a duty to operate the national team in the best condition. If the football association’s administrative power cannot even properly operate a charter plane, it seems that there is a significant problem.”

Next week, the National Assembly’s inquiry into the Korea Football Association is expected to continue with criticism of the association’s inadequate administration, including the operation of charter flights.

This is Jung Joo-hee from Yonhap News TV. ([e-mail])

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