“They call Son Heung-min ‘No. 7’ and ‘that person’” ... Shocking state of Korean soccer team’s locker room exposed at National Assembly audit

[Financial News]  ‘It has gone beyond the pitch and landed on the National Assembly’s audit table. The national team’s crumbling leadership, festering internal discord, and the Korea Football Association (KFA)’s irresponsible inaction have all come under scrutiny.’
The deep-seated conflict within South Korea’s ever-turbulent national football team was laid bare at a National Assembly audit. At the audit held on the 21st by the National Assembly’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, People Power Party lawmaker Jeong Yeon-wook pointed to recent reports of discord within the national team and its leadership collapse, and strongly criticized the KFA’s complacent response.
The most shocking remark that day concerned the atmosphere within the team toward its captain, Son Heung-min (LAFC).
Turning to Lee Yong-soo, vice president of the KFA and acting president, who appeared as a witness, Rep. Jeong snapped, “Do you know that recently, some national team players have been calling Son Heung-min ‘No. 7’ or ‘that person’ instead of using his name?”
Jeong then raised the serious issues of factionalism and a breakdown in communication within the national team, saying, “I wonder whether relations among the players have become so strained that they are uncomfortable even mentioning his name directly.”
The criticism did not stop there. Jeong played interview footage of Kim Min-jae (FC Bayern Munich), who directly criticized the forwards’ lack of defensive involvement after the Venezuela match on the 2nd, and Hwang In-beom (Porto), who appeared tearful while hinting at a lack of leadership. He also addressed the so-called “national team retirement uproar” involving key players born in 1996—Kim Min-jae, Hwang In-beom and Hwang Hee-chan—which had sent shock waves through Korean soccer after the match against Uzbekistan, underscoring the seriousness of the situation.

But the KFA’s response remained complacent. Although acting president Lee said, “I was given a brief report on the matter,” he added, “We agreed to continue discussing it within the national team, in keeping with the principle that what happens in the locker room should be resolved there.” He sidestepped offering a concrete explanation and taking responsibility for intervening.
Jeong erupted at the KFA’s lukewarm response.
He launched a fierce attack, saying, “The public is asking what on earth the KFA is doing to manage things, and why this kind of controversy keeps recurring. I have fundamental doubts about whether any coach who comes in could resolve a situation where leadership has collapsed as it has now.” It was a stinging criticism that the KFA’s inaction was only fueling speculation and suspicion.
Under a barrage of criticism, acting president Lee offered only the stock response that he hoped “the national team will become more united and improve as it prepares for the November international matches and the Asian Cup in January next year, with interim coach Robert Moreno at the helm.” It was an audit that left only hurt feelings, woefully inadequate to soothe the anger of football fans.
[email protected] Jeon Sang-il Reporter