South Korea candidate for Federation Internationale de Football Association president ‘facing suspension’

On Tuesday, Chung Mong-joon said FIFA’s Ethics Committee had launched an investigation into whether in 2010 he had tried to help South Korea win its unsuccessful bid to host the 2022 World Cup by proposing a $777 million (694 million euro) fund to support global football.

Chung, the scion of the Hyundai industrial conglomerate, has vowed to prevail in the current crisis.

Chung made the comments in response to reports that the Ethics Committee is investigating Chung’s charity donations to Pakistan and Haiti.

South Korea was one of the candidates for the 2022 World Cup which went to Qatar.

Chung, a South Korean politician and businessman, said that he is “not facing any allegations of bribery, fraud corruption or conflict of interest”, and that any decision to suspend him is part of a smear campaign to stop him from running for FIFA’s presidency. He was still serving on FIFA’s Executive Committee. “I’ll leave it to you to decide”, he said, alluding to Federation Internationale de Football Association President Sepp Blatter and his supporters.

Chung released a 26-page statement Tuesday in which he outlined his concerns for FIFA’s future, defended his tenure as a soccer official, and said he expects to be suspended by the ethics committee. “Despite this, I can ensure you that the Ethics Committee will treat every person equal, regardless of his or her office or standing”. Blatter insists he has done “nothing illegal”.

The organization has been mired in allegations of corruption and wrongdoing ever since its World Congress in May, when several key figures were arrested following investigations by the Swiss authorities and the BFI.

“FIFA is much sicker than it looks”, Chung said, urging confederations and national associations to reclaim their independence and change “the passive way of dealing with FIFA before we can bring any meaningful reforms”.

Chung said he faced an additional four-year ban for allegedly defaming the ethics committee, which he said was referred to as Blatter’s “hitman”.