“I Want to Usher In a New Soccer Era”

“I Want to Usher In a New Soccer Era”. February. 06, 2007 06:49. yjongk@donga.com bluesky@donga.com.

“People around me are encouraging me to run for the chairmanship of FIFA. I’m also thinking about it.”

Chung Mong-joon, chairman of the Korea Football Association, expressed his will to run for the FIFA chairmanship in an interview with the Dong-A Ilbo on February 5. Until now, he has mentioned, “I will serve for FIFA” only. But this is the first time he made remarks related to his running for the chairmanship.

Chairman Chung displayed his will to lead change in FIFA, saying, “Michel Platini, the former French soccer star, was elected chairman of UEFA (the Union of European Football Associations) a while ago. After Lennart Johansson, who led UEFA for 16 years, left, a new era has come. The international soccer world is also experiencing a drastic change.”

Chung said, “I will not consider the FIFA chairmanship as a title with power. I will think first how I can contribute as chairman.”

He is targeting the 2011 election. The tenure of a FIFA chairman is four years. Member country votes will decide who takes the office. This year’s election, where chairman Joseph Sepp Blatter will try to be re-elected for the third time, will be held in Zurich, Switzerland on May 30.

Chung has been leading Korean soccer for 14 years since he took office as chairman of the Korea Football Association. In 1994, he became a vice president of FIFA and has been serving there for 13 years. During this period, he has been considered progressive, emphasizing the financial transparency of FIFA.

Meanwhile, Chung, whose tenure as chairman of the KFA ends at the end of 2008, announced that he would like to finish his tenure by participating in the World Youth Championships and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games successfully, which will occur at the end of his tenure. Also, he made it clear that he will not take office as chairman of the KFA again.

-Where do you think FIFA should head?

“This is what I would say as an election pledge after declaring my candidacy for the FIFA chairmanship,” he said with a serious look after laughing. “FIFA is a huge organization. Things should be handled fairly. FIFA’s strong and weak points at the same time are that it holds an election every four years. One should not take care of things politically, being conscious of votes. If one deals with things like this every time, it is hard to expect good results to come out. Also, the independence of alliances by continent is important.”

-What is the biggest issue facing Korean soccer this year?

“The priority is holding the U-17 World Youth Championship in Korea successfully. In preparation for this, we will hold an eight-country tourney with countries like Brazil, Argentina and France in June. Even though inter-Korean relations have frozen due to the nuclear experiments, it seems that North Korea will also participate. The North said that they would come to Korea right before the game and train for one month. Also, it is important to pass the tourney’s preliminary matches.”

-Some point out that soccer fans are too nationalistic.

“Soccer pursues nationalism and internationalism at the same time. People go crazy for their country’s victory. However, thanks to such furor, soccer has become international. From now on, we should be proud of our national team and at the same time, we should have interests in other countries’ national teams, too.”

-Fans are relatively less interested in a professional soccer now.

“The most important element for the development of professional soccer is the introduction of the advancement system. There should be up to a K3 league (third league) so that teams can advance or be demoted. That could spice up and activate pro soccer. It is important to establish and develop sub-leagues besides the K league.”

-What is the long-term goal of Korean soccer?

“We should try to reach 10th in the global rankings. If our infrastructure and systems are established and our national teams rank above 10th, our soccer level can be called world-class. It will not be easy, but having a goal could lead to development.”

-What are your plans after you quit your job at the KFA?

“I once said that I want to be a chairman of the football association for elementary school students. I feel good when I watch children playing soccer. I plan to set up a kindergarten match in the second half of this year. I believe that the fair play learned from soccer could make our society sounder. I will maintain my interest in Korean soccer and continue to think about how I can contribute to it.”