South Korea FA apologizes over referee sex audit

South Korea's national football association has apologized after a decade-old government audit revealed it provided sexual entertainment to foreign referees during international matches in 2011 and 2012. The Korea Football Association (KFA) issued the apology on Saturday, August 8, 2026, following a media report detailing the findings of a 2016 audit by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The audit, which was not publicly released at the time, found the KFA used corporate credit cards to pay for sexual services for visiting referees at massage parlors and other adult establishments on seven occasions between March 2011 and March 2012. The matches involved were qualifiers for the 2012 London Olympics and the 2014 FIFA World Cup. According to reports, approximately 10 to 12 referees and match coordinators from countries including Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Bahrain, and Uzbekistan received the entertainment. South Korea remained undefeated in those seven fixtures.

In its statement, the KFA expressed deep apology for causing concern over issues emerging from a parliamentary hearing, a police raid, and media reports about events from more than a decade ago that...