South Korea FA scandal: corporate cards used to pay for sex services for foreign referees

After a disappointing performance at the World Cup, South Korea's football association is facing more than just sporting problems. A bribery scandal has now erupted.

The police may expand their investigations, an official indicated at the start of the week. Provided the 15-year statute of limitations has not yet expired for the matters in question, the situation could become even more difficult for the suspects. But the reputational damage is already done: Representatives of the Korean Football Association (KFA) allegedly enticed foreign referees—who had to officiate matches involving South Korea—with erotic services. Is this a bribery scandal?

It certainly appears so. "Between March 2011 and March 2012, the KFA paid for sexual services for guest referees in massage parlors and other adult establishments—both before and after international matches held in South Korea," reported the South Korean news agency Yonhap on August 10, citing a government audit report.

The public has been outraged about the case since last week, when police conducted a raid on the KFA. Based on a previously non-public audit report from 2016, it emerged that the KFA had used its own credit cards to pay for "sexual entertainment" for referees in 2011 and 2012. This included qualification matches for the 2012 London Summer Olympics and the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

Little is being denied. "We deeply regret the disappointment and concern caused by the various problems and controversies surrounding the association since the 2026 FIFA World Cup," reads a statement from the KFA. It also emphasizes: "However, we would like to clarify that such inappropriate behavior or misuse of corporate credit cards is absolutely not taking place at present."

Also a Matter of Decency

For South Korean society, this case contains several points of outrage. If the suspicion is confirmed that the KFA deliberately tried to make referees compliant with sexual services paid for by the association, it constitutes an attempt at corruption. The KFA—and possibly the referees involved—would suffer great reputational damage, and sanctions are likely to follow.

For South Korea, it is also a matter of decency. Sexual services are officially illegal, a status confirmed just this year by a lawsuit from the Constitutional Court in Seoul. Massage parlors that include erotic elements alongside massages are difficult to monitor. If the KFA knowingly supported this business, it circumvented the law. Even those who advocate for the legalization of sex work can recognize misconduct here.

This is especially significant in South Korea. A conflict often referred to as the "Gender War" has been raging in the country for years. Women see themselves as systematically disadvantaged in the labor market, while many men criticize that they must perform mandatory military service. More radical groups of women, in their demand for equality, advocate having no more sex with men. Thus, the KFA affair is viewed in a particularly sensitive light.

Alleged Nepotism and New Voting Format

For the association, the situation is now even worse than it already was. At the men's World Cup, South Korea's national team disappointingly exited in the group stage. The uproar—especially given a nominally weak group—was so great that even the country's president, Lee Jae Myung, addressed the public and announced consequences. A committee was formed to investigate the events within the much-criticized football association.

Within the association, there were also allegations of nepotism surrounding the appointment of the now-resigned men's national coach, Hong Myung Bo. Hong, once captain of South Korea's national team, has faced scrutiny over the circumstances of his hiring.

Photo: The now-resigned national coach Hong Myung Bo is accused of nepotism. (Credit: NurPhoto/imago)

By Felix Lill