Football Association allegedly offered sex services to foreign referees during national team matches

The Korea Football Association (KFA) is accused of providing sexual favors to foreign referees and inspectors on multiple occasions around national team matches in 2011 and 2012. A 2016 report by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, detailing corruption within the KFA, revealed that sexual services were offered to over ten foreign officials during seven home matches. These matches included one World Cup qualifier, two Olympic qualifiers, and four friendly games. Notably, the national team achieved a record of five wins and two draws in the seven games where referees who allegedly received these services were in charge. The nationalities of these referees included Japan, the UAE, Iran, Bahrain, and Uzbekistan. KFA employees reportedly spent hundreds of thousands of won, sometimes over one million won, per instance for these services. While the ministry identified these issues during an audit in 2016, the information was not made public at the time. The report also implicated Cho Joong-yeon, the former KFA president.