South Korean football body offered sex services for foreign referees in 2011, 2012: report

The South Korean football governing body, the Korea Football Association (KFA), is facing mounting pressure over allegations that it arranged sexual services for foreign referees in 2011 and 2012. According to a report by South Korean broadcaster JTBC, confidential audit documents prepared by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2016 reveal that the KFA sought to influence officiating by catering to the needs of foreign referees who came from countries such as Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Bahrain, and Uzbekistan.

The allegations stem from the KFA's attempt to secure referees' support for South Korea, allegedly by providing sexual services to them. Former KFA officials claim that the association paid for masseuse services for foreign referees during matches, with the aim of having them "blow their whistles in their favor". These incidents allegedly took place before South Korea's matches against Kuwait and Oman in the 2014 World Cup qualifying matches and the 2012 London Olympics qualifiers.

The KFA denies the allegations, stating that they now strictly adhere to ethical guidelines and that they retained documents for only five years. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism concluded that payments made to massage parlors for the referees included sexual services. Despite the scandal occurring over a decade ago, football ethics experts say such attempts to influence referees are serious breaches of FIFA's disciplinary rules, and could lead to international repercussions.