Gwangju FC and the Korea Football Association (KFA) gave a huge shock due to a fundamental administrative processing error that is incomprehensible to anyone. The possibility of punishment from higher authorities remains.
On the 16th, the Korea Football Association (KFA) officially stated, "We express deep regret over the confusion caused at the K League due to the administrative shortcomings of the association regarding the 'player registration ban from FIFA due to Gwangju FC's failure to pay the solidarity contribution' and mentioned that there will be no punishment for the club.
According to the Korea Professional Football Association and the KFA, among others, on the 16th, Gwangju received a player registration ban from FIFA in December last year. The issue arose from the failure to pay a solidarity contribution of $3,000 when signing foreign forward Asani in 2023. The solidarity contribution is a system where 5% of a professional football player's transfer fee is distributed to the school or club that the player belonged to between the ages of 12 and 23.
In the past, it was directly handed over from club to club, but now the club that signs the player remits the solidarity contribution to FIFA, which then distributes the amount. Gwangju did not deliberately fail to pay Asani's solidarity contribution. Gwangju attempted to pay the amount to FIFA since August last year.
In this process, they actually made a transfer to the account. However, due to a minor amount discrepancy, the deposited amount was returned repeatedly. Gwangju communicated with the bank and FIFA to retry the payment, but even that did not go smoothly. In the meantime, the employee in charge of the work, identified as A, took a leave of absence in September last year, leading to a lack of proper handover. Time passed, and FIFA imposed a player registration ban on Gwangju.
The problem is that Gwangju did not adequately grasp the fact that they had received a sanction. FIFA sent an official letter containing the details of the sanction to the KFA, which then communicated the information to Gwangju. However, the person in charge, A, is still on leave and unable to check emails properly. Ultimately, Gwangju entered the winter transfer market and signed several players without realizing the sanction, and completed registrations without any issues.
The KFA also failed to verify whether Gwangju had resolved the sanction issue during this process. This is literally an unprecedented situation. Players who should not have been registered were successfully registered as Gwangju players and participated in matches in K League 1, the Korea Cup, and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League Elite (ACLE).
As a result, there are concerns that Gwangju could face penalties for fielding ineligible players, potentially resulting in a forfeiture of 20 matches played this year. Some clubs have already reported similar concerns to the league. However, Article 33, Section 2 of the league’s competition regulations states that if an ineligible player participated in an official match and it is discovered during or after the match, and an objection is raised by the opposing club within 48 hours after the match ends, it will be considered a 0-3 forfeiture, which means that the results of previously played K League matches may not change.
Currently, the decision from FIFA, the highest governing body, is the most crucial. A league official noted in a call with OSEN, "Usually, when the association sends a sanction letter to the club by email, it is also shared with the league, but this time it was omitted. That is why we were only able to grasp the situation recently. When we contacted Gwangju, they stated that they made the payment on time and that there was no issue, so we were observing the situation.
"Currently, the league is not making a judgment regarding ineligible players. It seems we need to wait for FIFA's authoritative interpretation first. We are looking for similar overseas cases. Gwangju is also trying to actively clarify that there was an error during the payment process, not deliberate failure to pay the solidarity contribution, so we need to see how this issue will be resolved."
For now, the Gwangju club has sent the solidarity contribution again. A Gwangju official stated, "We have paid the fine and the solidarity contribution. We are currently inquiring with FIFA to confirm whether the payment has been completed normally," adding that they are trying to gather more information to ensure clarity. Due to communication issues, they are waiting for responses. The fine amounts to 5,000 Swiss francs (about 8.34 million won), which is double the initial solidarity contribution that should have been paid.
Previously, a KFA official stated, "We are discussing the incident internally. However, because we also need the judgments from FIFA and AFC, we have not reached a conclusion yet," indicating serious risks that all newly registered players by Gwangju could be considered ineligible players, not only facing forfeiture.
Fortunately, the possibility of forfeiture for Gwangju in the league has decreased at least. The KFA stated, "This incident is an administrative error without intent. Therefore, it would be unreasonable to consider the players participating in the previous matches as 'ineligible players'," adding that "It is more important to acknowledge the results of the matches held so far and to ensure the eligibility of players without fault than to redefine those players as ineligible and change the results of past matches, ensuring the stability of the tournaments and leagues."
However, the lack of punishment from the KFA does not preclude the possibility of sanctions from higher authorities like FIFA and AFC. The KFA stated, "Sanctions from higher authorities against KFA and Gwangju are clearly separate. The association has already inquired about related facts for the relevant period. In this process, Gwangju stressed as much as possible that it was an 'unintentional administrative error'. We will actively support further clarifications."
Meanwhile, the KFA emphasized, "As an association that must prioritize enhancing the value of tournaments and securing trust, we will ensure that such errors do not recur in the future," adding, "We plan to systematize communication procedures and work processes with the Korea Professional Football Association and clubs, and put effort into preventing recurrence."
[OSEN]