Beleaguered club owner says he’s lost faith in K League

Lee Jae-myung, the owner of the South Korean football club Seongnam FC currently in the hot seat for his recent criticism of officiating, said Friday he’d rather be banned from the sport than merely penalized for his action, since he has lost faith in football administration here.

Lee attended a disciplinary hearing convened on Friday by the K League, the national governing body for pro football, over his open criticism of refereeing. Last Saturday, Lee wrote on his Facebook page that Seongnam FC, competing in the top division K League Classic, had been victimized by biased officiating this season and cited specific matches to illustrate his point.

The league decided to seek penalties for Lee and scheduled the meeting of its disciplinary committee, on the grounds that Lee’s comments tarnished the league’s image.

No team owner has been disciplined in the league’s 31-year history. Lee is also mayor of Seongnam, a satellite city of Seoul located just south of the capital. The local government runs the football club.

In his brief meeting with reporters before the start of the hearing, Lee said he had a hard time understanding the league’s motives behind its attempt to punish him for calling for more transparency.

“Whether it’s the government, a sports team or a sports federation, unfair administration and management will only spell its demise,” Lee said. “I was only trying to make my point that (the K League) should be run fairly, and I don’t understand how that tarnishes the league’s image.”

Noting that the K League dealt with a massive match-fixing scandal only a few years ago, Lee said the league needed a reminder of the importance of fairness in sports and that he made his comments to actually help the league improve its transparency.

“By not accepting this criticism, the league has proven that it just wants its members to keep their mouths shut,” Lee continued.

“It means they want to keep playing unfair football.”

Lee also said he’d prefer to be banned from pro football than to be punished for his actions because he saw “no hope” in an organization that disciplines its members for saying the right things. (Yonhap)