Noise is being made about the canceled friendly match between Napoli (Italy), where Kim Min-jae plays, and Mallorca (Spain), where Lee Kang-in plays.
According to the Korea Football Association (KFA), the association received a lawsuit in the name of consortium organizers StadiumX (STX) and Untouchable Sports Group (USG), which promoted the visit of the two teams, stating that the friendly match between the two teams was unfairly canceled and that they want to compensate for the damage caused.
Accordingly, the KFA is preparing for the eventuality of receiving a notice from the court.
On June 25, the KFA finally informed the consortium that was organizing the friendly match between the two teams that it could not hold the match. The two matches were scheduled to take place on June 8 at Seoul World Cup Stadium and June 10 at Goyang Sports Complex.
The matches were expected to be highly anticipated by fans as they would be the last time Kim Min-jae and Lee Kang-in would play in their respective clubs’ jerseys. It was also interesting to note that Kim Min-jae and Lee Kang-in were going head-to-head.
However, on June 10, the Korean Professional Football Association (KPA) was unable to give its consent because there were six K League games (three K League 1 and three K League 2) on the same day. The KFA approves invitational matches for foreign teams, but the federation’s consent is required.
On June 8, the KFA asked the consortium if they wanted to hold any of the matches. At the same time, the KFA also wanted to check the financial status of the consortium to see if they could afford to host a foreign team to avoid an event like Cristiano Ronaldo’s no-show.
To this end, the KFA asked the consortium to deposit 2.4 billion won by the morning of the 25th, or to provide a deposit of 800 million won and a monetary bond trust agreement. The consortium later requested an escrow account and then expressed its intention to deposit the money in a lump sum, but in the end, the promise was not kept.
In response, the consortium argued, “Anything other than a lump sum deposit of 2.4 billion won would require several days of time. The association is not interested in approving the event that the organizers have been preparing for a long time, but only wants to prevent the event from taking place.”
“From the organizers’ point of view, the amount of money is large, so we need to have specific discussions, such as how to deal with the interest accrued during the deposit period. However, the federation asked us to deposit billions of won in one and a half days. This is unreasonable self-righteousness on the part of the association and can be seen as manipulation.”
In the end, the consortium failed to meet the conditions set by the KFA, and the KFA decided and notified the consortium that both the Napoli and Mallorca matches were off-limits. The consortium is now seeking a court ruling on the unfairness of the decision.
The decision is expected to put a lot of pressure on the consortium, which has scheduled three preseason matches in late July with Hwang Hee-chan’s Wolverhampton (England), Jose Mourinho’s AS Roma (Italy) and Oh Hyun-gyu’s Celtic.
Wolverhampton and Celtic will meet at the Suwon World Cup Stadium on July 26, Wolverhampton and AS Roma will meet at the Incheon Asiad Stadium on July 29, and Roma and Incheon United will meet at the Incheon Asiad Stadium on August 1.
The KFA’s decision is expected to have an adverse impact on the partnerships and sponsorships that have been established for the Napoli and Mallorca friendlies. The consortium said, “The KFA’s decision will cause a lot of damage. We have staff in place and investments planned both domestically and internationally, but this will be disrupted,” the consortium said.안전놀이터
For now, the KFA has decided to keep the Wolverhampton and AS Roma visits separate from the Napoli-Majorca match. This means that if the consortium meets the requirements for approval, it will be reviewed.
A representative of the current consortium told OSEN: “For the June 8 game, there is still room for negotiation. We are willing to talk to the federation and resolve it.” However, if the consortium goes to court, it is doubtful that the two sides will be able to meet and come to an agreement.