The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have asked the Korea Football Association (KFA) to submit a detailed account of discussions held by the K-Football Innovation Committee.
The KFA said on the 25th that FIFA and the AFC had sent a joint letter on the 21st, adding that the request sought specific information on what the committee has discussed so far.
An official said FIFA is understood to have been closely monitoring the state of Korean football, and appeared to be checking whether there is a gap between how the committee is actually operating and how it has been portrayed in domestic media.
The letter also reportedly noted that under FIFA statutes, sanctions may be imposed if a third party unduly interferes with the independence of a member association.
The K-Football Innovation Committee was launched in July of this year to address growing calls for reform in Korean football following the country's early exit from the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America. Co-chaired by Park Ji-sung, a member of a FIFA committee, the panel is tackling key tasks including an overhaul of football administrative governance, improvements to the youth development system and the introduction of advanced technology systems.
From the outset, however, the committee has stressed the need to guarantee the KFA's independence. It has also said the government should not intervene in the association's affairs beyond its legal scope.
A KFA official said it was somewhat unexpected for FIFA and the AFC to request a report when the committee had already held seven meetings, adding that the association plans to compile and submit an objective summary of the discussions so far.
