The Korea Football Association (KFA) held an emergency meeting of its executives including Chairman Chung Mong-kyu at the football center in central Seoul on Tuesday and announced the replacement of Klinsmann. It was exactly 354 days after Klinsmann announced the appointment on Feb. 27 last year.
Chairman Chung Mong-gyu apologized, saying, “I am sorry for the disappointment of soccer fans and many others as we did not meet expectations at the Qatar Asian Cup. I humbly accept criticism from the standpoint of running the football association.”
However, public anger is unabated. Not only has Klinsmann displayed incompetent leadership but also disrespects Korea itself several times. “Most of the national team players play in Europe,” Klinsmann said, ignoring the K-League and staying abroad for most of his term.
“After returning home, I will analyze the cause of the Asian Cup elimination.” Klinsmann fled to the U.S. late at night two days after returning home. He attended the committee via video conference and blamed the players, saying that Son Heung-min and Lee Kang-in were the reason for the elimination of the semifinals of the Asian Cup. He said he was not responsible for letting the team fall apart.
What’s even angrier is that Klinsmann, who was under contract until the 2026 North-Central America World Cup, receives all the remaining two years’ salary without working. South Korea’s advance to the semifinals of the Asian Cup rather sickened Korean soccer and made only Klinsmann’s stomach full.
Klinsmann’s annual salary is reportedly 2.2 million U.S. dollars. While playing and eating for the next two years, Klinsmann will be paid an additional penalty of 5,878.4 million won to the Korea Football Association. As the association dismissed him without completing his contract period, he bears the blame.
If Klinsmann’s annual salary including head coach Andreas Harechok is combined, the total penalty amounts to 10 billion won (approx. Harechok also said in a recent interview with foreign media that the painstaking tower collapsed in an instant, pointing out the reason for the elimination was a dispute between Son Heung-min and Lee Kang-in.
Vietnamese media outlet Vietnam Express reported that Klinsmann’s total penalty amounts to 10 billion won (approximately 7.5 million U.S. dollars). Klinsmann was dismissed, but the penalty that he promised to pay will be fully paid by 2026.
Vietnam was surprised by the amount of penalty money that Klinsmann received, and was once again surprised by the Korea Football Association’s policy of paying huge amounts of money even though it was aware of his incompetence and wrongdoing. It is a waste of money that the Korea Football Association would not have had to pay if the KFA had specifically specified the penalty clause when signing a contract with Klinsmann.
There were many leaders who were more competent than Klinsmann in the first place but far less paid. Chairman Chung Mong-gyu denied the allegation by saying that he appointed Klinsmann according to appropriate procedures.
The Korea Football Association, which has to suffer massive financial loss due to Klinsmann, is taking the lead as its next coach in Korea. Concerns are rising that Klinsmann might be trying to fill the gap in his finances by appointing a relatively low-cost Korean leader by paying him a penalty.
BY: 토토사이트