| AFC | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Founded | 19 September 1933; 92 years ago (19 September 1933) |
| Headquarters | Cheonan,South Chungcheong Province |
| FIFA affiliation | 21 May 1948; 77 years ago (21 May 1948) |
| AFC affiliation | 21 May 1954; 71 years ago (21 May 1954) |
| EAFF affiliation | 28 May 2002; 23 years ago (28 May 2002) |
| President | Chung Mong-gyu |
| Vice-President | 5 officials |
| Website | kfa.or.kr |
| Korea Football Association | |
| Hangul | 대한축구협회 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 大韓蹴球協會 |
| Revised Romanization | Daehan Chukgu Hyeophoe |
| McCune–Reischauer | Taehan Ch'ukku Hyŏphoe |
TheKorea Football Association (Korean: 대한축구협회;Hanja: 大韓蹴球協會) is thegoverning body offootball andfutsal withinSouth Korea. It sanctions professional, semi-professional and amateur football in South Korea. Founded in 1933, the governing body became affiliated withFIFA twenty years later in 1948, and theAsian Football Confederation in 1954.
In 1921, the firstAll Joseon Football Tournament was held, and in 1933, the Korea Football Association was organized (following the foundation of Joseon Referees' Association in 1928), which created a foundation to disseminate and develop the sport.[1] Park Seung-bin was the first president of the KFA, charged with the task of promoting and spreading organised football in Korea.[2]
The Korea Football Association was reinstated in 1948, following the establishment of theRepublic of Korea. The KFA became a member ofFIFA, the international football governing body that same year. It later joined theAFC (Asian Football Confederation) in 1954.
Shin Ki-jun was the president of the Joseon Referees' Association, but he is not officially recognised as the first president.[2]
| No. | President | Year |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Park Seung-bin | 1933–1934 |
| 2 | Lyuh Woon-hyung | 1934–1938 |
| 3 | Ko Won-hoon [ko] | 1938–1942 |
| 4 | Ko Won-hoon (2) | 1942–1945 |
| 5 | Ha Kyung-deok [ko] | 1945–1947 |
| 6 | Ha Kyung-deok (2) | 1947–1948 |
| 7 | Shin Ik-hee | 1948–1949 |
| 8 | Hong Sung-ha [ko] | 1949 |
| 9 | Yun Bo-seon | 1949–1950 |
| 10 | Hong Sung-ha (2) | 1950–1952 |
| 11 | Hong Sung-ha (3) | 1952 |
| 12 | Chang Taek-sang | 1952–1954 |
| 13 | Lee Jong-lim | 1954–1955 |
| 14 | Hyun Jung-ju | 1955 |
| 15 | Kim Myung-hak [ko] | 1955–1956 |
| 16 | Kim Myung-hak (2) | 1956–1957 |
| 17 | Kim Yoon-ki | 1957–1959 |
| 18 | Kim Yoon-ki (2) | 1959–1960 |
| 19 | Jang Ki-young [ko] | 1960 |
| 20 | Jung Moon-ki | 1960–1961 |
| No. | President | Year |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | Jang Ki-young (2) | 1961–1962 |
| 22 | Kim Yoon-ki (3) | 1962 |
| 23 | Jang Ki-young (3) | 1962–1963 |
| 24 | Hwang Yeop [ko] | 1963 |
| 25 | Kim Yoon-ki (4) | 1963–1964 |
| 26 | Min Kwan-sik [ko] | 1964 |
| 27 | Choi Chi-hwan | 1964–1967 |
| 28 | Choi Chi-hwan (2) | 1967–1968 |
| 29 | Choi Chi-hwan (3) | 1968–1969 |
| 30 | Choi Chi-hwan (4) | 1969–1970 |
| 31 | Jang Deok-jin | 1970–1972 |
| 32 | Jang Deok-jin (2) | 1972–1973 |
| 33 | Ko Tae-jin | 1973–1975 |
| 34 | Ko Tae-jin (2) | 1975 |
| 35 | Kim Yoon-ha | 1975–1977 |
| 36 | Kim Yoon-ha (2) | 1977–1978 |
| 37 | Kim Yoon-ha (3) | 1978 |
| 38 | Park Joon-hong [ko] | 1978–1979 |
| 39 | Choi Soon-young | 1979–1980 |
| 40 | Choi Soon-young (2) | 1980–1983 |
| No. | President | Year |
|---|---|---|
| 41 | Choi Soon-young (3) | 1983–1985 |
| 42 | Choi Soon-young (4) | 1985–1986 |
| 43 | Choi Soon-young (5) | 1986–1987 |
| 44 | Lee Jong-hwan | 1987–1988 |
| 45 | Kim Woo-jung | 1988–1989 |
| 46 | Kim Woo-jung (2) | 1989–1993 |
| 47 | Chung Mong-joon | 1993–1997 |
| 48 | Chung Mong-joon (2) | 1997–2001 |
| 49 | Chung Mong-joon (3) | 2001–2005 |
| 50 | Chung Mong-joon (4) | 2005–2009 |
| 51 | Cho Chung-yun | 2009–2013 |
| 52 | Chung Mong-gyu | 2013–2017 |
| 53 | Chung Mong-gyu (2) | 2017–2020 |
| 54 | Chung Mong-gyu (3) | 2021–2024 |
| 55 | Chung Mong-gyu (4) | 2025–present |
Source:[4]
| Competition | Note | Current champions | Next season |
|---|---|---|---|
| Korean FA Cup | National cup held since 1996. | Pohang Steelers (2024) | 2025 Korean FA Cup |
| K3 League | Men's semi-professional league held since 2020. | Siheung Citizen (2024) | 2025 K3 League |
| K4 League | Men's semi-professional league held since 2020. | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors B (2024) | 2025 K4 League |
| WK League | Women's semi-professional league held since 2009. | Suwon FC Women (2024) | 2025 WK League |
| U-League | Universities' league held since 2008. | Sun Moon University (2024) | 2025 U-League |
The KFA tried to give pardons to 100 people formerly employed in football including48 match-fixing participants on 28 March 2023. However, it rescinded the decision after facing strong objections from fans and sports journalists.[6]Lee Dong-gook,Lee Young-pyo andCho Won-hee were among the high-profile administrators who assumed responsibility and resigned from their positions.
Between February and July 2024, themen's national team had no full-time manager afterJürgen Klinsmann was fired. Two domestic managers had been temporarily filling in during that period. Selection committee headJung Hae-seong abruptly resigned just days beforeUlsan HD managerHong Myung-bo was announced as the new national team manager. As the appointment took place in the middle of the K League season, fans and sports journalists and pundits were highly critical while irate Ulsan fans started holding up banners saying "Get out!" directed at Hong and protested in front of the KFA's headquarters.[7]
Selection committee member and football commentatorPark Joo-ho was threatened with legal action by the KFA over a video he had uploaded on his YouTube channel on 8 July. He had been filming with fellow commentator Kim Hwan to discuss the KFA's lack of progress in selecting a new national team coach over the past five months and had reacted with surprise regarding the real-time news of Hong Myung-bo's appointment as the new manager. After that, he explained his reaction and further reiterated the fact he had no knowledge of the appointment despite being part of the committee responsible for the selection of coaches and his frustration with the disorganized nature of the selection process. The reaction was not edited out and the full video was uploaded, garnering several million views.[8] Park refused to retract his claims of cronyism and disorganized leadership at the very top of the KFA management hierarchy.Koo Ja-cheol was among the active players who publicly defended Park on his social media account.[9] Hong's2002 World Cup teammatesKim Nam-il andAhn Jung-hwan, who had been silent on the issue until then, both corroborated Park's claims and noted that it had been going since the 2002 World Cup.[10][11]
After the massive public outcry from already disgruntled fans and more former players, the KFA stated that it would not pursue legal action against Park but the incident led to theMinistry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) conducting an independent probe by the Sports Ethics Center and scheduling an inquiry.[12][13] Park eventually resigned from his position and joined football commentatorPark Moon-sung in testifying before an inquiry at theNational Assembly that September.[14] There were differences between MCST's findings and Park's contentions. The findings revealed that Hong andDavid Wagner received the most votes from members of the selection committee including Park, and that the members agreed to give the final say to Jung Hae-seong.[15] On the contrary, the MCST pointed out that KFA presidentChung Mong-gyu's attempt to overturn Hong's appointment was the violation of procedure. Jung Hae-seong had recommended Hong to president Chung and immediately resigned from the committee after the president rejected the recommendation.[16] The president, who preferred foreign managers to domestic managers, arbitrarily authorizedLee Lim-saeng to negotiate with candidates, but Lee reached the same conclusion as Jung Hae-seong.[17]
Nonetheless, public opinion of the KFA deteriorated further following revelations that the organization issued delayed responses to or failed to advocate for Europe-based players regarding the repeated racist abuse they received, with journalists and fans noting the stark contrast to the immediate and strongly-worded statement released in response to Park's YouTube video.[18][19]
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