'World Cup elimination shows that personnel decisions matter'... President Lee says, "We will swiftly push sports administration reform after organizational and personnel failures"

[Financial News] President Lee Jae-myung said South Korea's failure to advance to the round of 32 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup was a case of "organizational and personnel failure," and vowed to move quickly on reforms to sports administration.

On the 28th, President Lee wrote on his X account, "As a former honorary professional football club chairman and a Red Devils supporter in spirit, I am more than surprised by the unexpected result." He added, "I will swiftly push sports administration reform so this does not happen again."

He also clearly explained why administrative reform is needed.

President Lee noted, "Once again, it has been proven that personnel decisions are everything. If you value your own side more than ability and appoint an incompetent person as a leader, the result is obvious."

He continued, "Such flawed appointments, where people cannot distinguish public from private interests and put personal gain ahead of the public good, are possible because it is difficult to monitor, check, and hold accountable the person with appointment authority." He emphasized, "For every organization, democratic composition and control, as well as the alignment of authority and responsibility, are important."
He also repeated the need to improve how sports organizations are run.
President Lee said, "Building democratic leadership structures in the private sector and establishing objective systems of oversight and checks are key national policy tasks for this administration." He added, "Just as we changed the way NACF executives are selected to a direct vote by members, I have instructed administrative guidance so that sports organizations such as KSOC and the Korea Football Association adopt direct elections in which all relevant sports figures can participate, rather than a small indirect voting system centered on delegates. I understand this is being implemented well."
He also said, "To improve transparency, fairness, and objectivity in operations, it is important to build a strict oversight and checks system and ensure accountability in line with actions and results." He assessed that "this World Cup failure, which left the public frustrated, appears to have resulted from organizational and personnel failures."
Turning to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, President Lee asked it to "analyze the exact circumstances and causes of this incident carefully, and prepare thorough measures to prevent a recurrence and improve the system, given that public tax money and state support are invested in World Cup participation." He then said, "I am deeply sorry to have caused the public such great disappointment over such an absurd incident."
The South Korea national football team, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, failed to advance past the group stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup and missed out on the round of 32.

y27k@fnnews.com Seo Yoon-kyung Reporter