The Korea Football Association has responded to a recent letter from FIFA stating that it is “concerned about political intervention” by stating that the association did not request the letter from FIFA.

The recent audit by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism against the KFA and the parliamentary inquiry into the matter coincided with the announcement of the interim audit results by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

This is why suspicions have arisen that the KFA received the letter at the direct request of FIFA.

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Yoo In-chon, who appeared at the National Audit Committee amid criticism that it was a matter of “pointing out the unfairness” of the association rather than “unfairly intervening” against the association, responded that FIFA's letter was just a “ritual act.

“We didn't ask FIFA for a letter first”
The Korea Football Association recently sent a response to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism stating that “FIFA's letter was not requested by the association first.”

FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) monitor the KFA's affairs from time to time, and when a problem arises, 토토사이트 they request a detailed explanation of the issue through a letter.

He added that the federations have also sent letters in the recent cases of the match-fixing amnesty and Son Jun-ho's permanent ban. However, in the two cases cited, the letters were actually from the AFC, not FIFA. There was no mention of any recent correspondence from FIFA regarding the association's issues.

The AFC also reported the receipt of the letter from FIFA directly to the Ministry of Culture, as it was so 'unusual'. After repeated attempts to reach a representative from the ministry, they were kind enough to send an email to let them know they had received the letter.

■Would they have forwarded the 'match-fixing amnesty' letter to the Ministry of Culture?
However, unlike the FIFA letter, the two AFC letters cited by the Football Association in its response above were reportedly not received by the MOCA. A representative from the Sports Policy Division of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said, “I understand that the AFC did not forward the letters regarding the match-fixing amnesty and Son Joon-ho to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. We are currently unable to confirm whether we have received them. We also have not received the specific contents of the two letters.”

This is where the criticism of 'selective use of official documents' comes in. The AFC's letters to the associations carry different weights, especially in the context of the amnesty scandal that has rocked Korean soccer. The AFC sent a letter to the KFA requesting data to understand the circumstances of the amnesty, and if the KFA was willing to clarify the situation, it should have reported it to the Ministry of Culture.

The MOCA is expected to release the results of a specific audit of the KFA later this month, which will reportedly include measures related to the match-fixing amnesty.

The KFA's “selective shadow tactics” of hiding behind FIFA and the AFC when the going gets tough is no longer working.