The Korea Football Association (KFA) has transitioned to an acting leadership system under Vice Chairman Lee Yong-soo following approval from the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee.
According to football sources on the 22nd, the KFA received approval from the sport committee for Vice Chairman Lee Yong-soo to serve as acting chief on the 20th of this month. This came two weeks after former Chairman Chung Mong-gyu expressed his intention to resign on the 6th.
With this, the KFA can now begin work in earnest to proceed with the next chairman election. Under the KFA's current bylaws, when the chairman position becomes vacant, the person designated according to the order set at the time of vice chairman appointment (or the eldest among the vice chairmen if no order was set) receives approval from the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee to act on behalf of the chairman. If the remaining term is one year or more, a new chairman must be elected within 60 days.
However, room for legal interpretation remains regarding the authority of the acting chief, so controversy is expected going forward. Even though Vice Chairman Lee received approval as acting chief, it is unclear whether major agenda items such as bylaw revisions can be handled under the acting chief's authority.
"We have submitted an inquiry to the sport committee and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism regarding the legal interpretation of the authority issue," a KFA official said.
