Prosecution confirms money behind Ansan Greeners’ entry into the pro ranks
Trial of national team coach Choi Tae-wook on embezzlement charges
Federations, associations to review measures and disciplinary actions
By Jin-yup Kim and Jae-hoon Jeon = Prosecutors investigating a case in which money was exchanged between coaches, agents and parents over recruitment to professional teams such as Ansan Greeners FC have indicted 11 people, including former national soccer team coach Choi Tae-wook, and handed 10 of them over to trial.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office’s Criminal Division 9 (Deputy Chief Prosecutor Kim Hyun-ah) announced on Wednesday that it indicted Lee Jong-geol, a former representative of Ansan FC, Bae Mo, a former head of Ansan FC’s power enhancement team, Hong Mo, a parent of a player suspected of bribery, Choi, a former coach, and Choi Mo, a soccer team manager at an elementary school.
Lee is accused of receiving a Benz car worth 50 million won from Hong in exchange for recruiting players from last year to this year. He is also suspected of receiving 27 million won in Rolex watches and cash from agent Choi Mo-soo, and 9 million won from Lim Jong-heon, then the acting head coach of Ansan FC, in exchange for the appointment of the head coach.
Bae, the former team manager, is accused of taking 30 million won from Choi last year in exchange for player recruitment.
The former coach and elementary school soccer coach Choi allegedly conspired with Choi to provide 129 million won to Lee and others. The former coach was investigated for colluding with the agent Choi in recruiting his student to join Ansan FC.
The prosecution said, “In a situation where only 3.7 percent of all soccer players join professional clubs, we confirmed the reality of the player management business where money is exchanged,” and “to block the acquisition of profits from the crime, we took measures such as restitution and notified the Korea Football Association of the irregularities.”소닉카지노
The KFA, which recognized Choi’s situation, took immediate action. Choi is currently a member of the federation’s Technical Study Group (TSG).
“We have excluded Choi from the TSG for now,” said a federation official, explaining, “We need to check the police report to see if the federation or the association will be in charge of the punishment committee in the future.”
An association official also said, “If the prosecutor’s office notifies us of misconduct, we will look at the indictment and decide whether to convene a fairness committee. After that, we have to watch the outcome of the hearing and trial and decide on the discipline at the association level.”
Choi, a member of the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup quarterfinals, assisted former coach Paulo Bento at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which concluded last year, helping South Korea to its second-ever away round of 16.