The Chinese Football Association (CFA) announced Wednesday it plans its own investigation into staff after reports in South Korea linked CFA referees to a corruption scandal in which Korean soccer officials allegedly bribed foreign referees with “sexual entertainment.”
The South Korean news outlet JTBC published a report this month revealing that government officials had found evidence that the Korean Football Association (KFA), in 2011 and 2012, had used association resources to pay for foreign referees, some of them linked to matches in which South Korea was playing, to visit “massage” parlors for what was described as sexual favors. The KFA did not name the accusations directly, but issued an apology shortly after the report surfaced for any inappropriate actions that officials with the organization had taken in the past, emphasizing that these events allegedly occurred over a decade ago.
The reports followed a disastrous performance by the South Korean soccer team during this year’s FIFA World Cup. While fans were expecting the team to go far in the tournament given the presence of several players with experience playing for high-level European clubs, South Korea did not make it out of the group stage of the tournament, prompting widespread outrage. Former coach Hong Myung-bo, whose hiring was already controversial in 2024, returned home only briefly after the tournament before fleeing to the United States after receiving death threats.
The publicly available information regarding the “sexual entertainment” scandal did not specify which countries’ referees were implicated in the alleged corruption. The CFA revealed on Wednesday that at least three of its referees were identified as having received “improper hospitality” in South Korea and that it would investigate the incidents thoroughly.
“Recently, South Korean media reported that in January 2012, the Korea Football Association provided ‘improper entertainment’ to three Chinese Football Association employees who were visiting South Korea for referee exchanges, which has drawn the attention of the domestic public,” the CFA shared on Weibo, the most popular Chinese regime-controlled social media site. “The Chinese Football Association attaches great importance to this matter and has initiated an investigation into the relevant circumstances.”
“We will immediately announce the investigation results to the public to address social concerns,” the CFA promised.
The South Korean news network SBS reported on Wednesday that the individuals identified in the scandal were “the head of the referee bureau, the person in charge of referee accounting, and the person in charge of referees.” Chinese state media outlets did not offer that depth of detail but did report on the investigation. The state-run Global Times propaganda newspaper identified the implicated individuals as being part of a “referee exchange program.”
The original JTBC report that broke the story revealed that the national soccer federation, as documented by an investigation by the South Korean Ministry of Culture, spent thousands of Korean won on corporate credit cards at “massage parlors” known for sex work, entertaining foreign referees. The KFA did not deny the report, but also did not address the allegations directly, instead offering a general apology for inappropriate behavior revealed by unspecified reports.
“Our association, which ought to bring joy and exhilaration to football fans through the fierce pursuit of goals and the fair sportsmanship that emerges in the process, has recently lost sight of its fundamental purpose and finds itself in a truly dire situation,” the KFA apology read, addressing “media reports regarding events from over a decade ago that even many of our own staff members were unaware of.”
“We wish to clearly state that such inappropriate conduct or misuse of corporate cards is absolutely not occurring at the association at present,” it emphasized.
The South Korean government initially stated that it would investigate if any legal action would be taken in response to the report, but police on Wednesday announced that the statute of limitations on any crime that could be interpreted to have taken place in the report had long elapsed.
“It appears that the statute of limitations has expired for the charge of facilitating prostitution,” an unnamed National Police Agency official told reporters during a briefing on the subject, according to the Yonhap news agency.
China becoming involved in the situation could potentially result in international legal action. As a communist tyranny, the Chinese government often applies its laws in an arbitrary way, issuing especially severe punishments to individuals who publicly embarrass the Communist Party. Any impugning of Chinese soccer referees could prove to be especially humiliating for the country given its dismal performance record in men’s soccer, which kept it out of yet another World Cup competition this year.
Chinese soccer fans who wished to participate in the tournament fervor clinged to China’s presence in the games through its referees. This year’s event featured an unprecedented team of three Chinese referees officiating a game, the Ecuador versus Curaçao match in which Chinese referee Ma Ning led the officiating team. Ma issued six yellow cards in the match, attracting positive attention in China for being heavily involved.