Kim Pan-gon Addresses Mistake At Press Conference
One of the Korean FA’s Vice-presidents, Kim Pan-gon, was responsible for the hire of their national team coaches; and it has been alleged that a proper background check was not completed during the hiring process.
Appointed to the role was Choi In-Chuel, a coach who already had an abusive record; and has already had a stint as the women’s national team coach for the 2010-11 season. Many have described Choi In-chuel’s approach as ‘strong-willed’, so much so he has struck one of his own players on the head due to his passion for the game (during his eight-year tenure as coach of semi-pro club Incheon Hyundai Steel Red Angels). For these reasons, Choi has already stepped down and today, Kim, at the Korean FA’s office, has said he regrets not taking further action i.e. meeting with the player and that the Choi’s words of confidence as not enough to justify his appointment.
‘We did insert a clause in his contract that he would be immediately dismissed if an unsavory incident occurred during his tenure. We were surprised that the extent of Choi’s violent behavior in the past was so much larger than what we had known.”
“Coaches are held to much higher ethical and moral standards today,” Kim said. “The society demands a great deal more from instructors, and I don’t think they’ve been able to catch up.”
“We wanted to give hope to instructors across women’s football that, with hard work and dedication, they too could rise to the position on the senior national team. We’re really sorry that things didn’t turn out the way we wanted, said Kim.
