KFA, which lost in forfeiture, announced its position on the controversy over non-payment of Gwangju Solidarity Contributions...It is too much to judge an unqualified player
May 16, 2025
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In a statement distributed to the media on the afternoon of the 16th, the KFA conveyed the official position of the KFA, saying, `We deeply regret the confusion caused in the K-League due to the inexperience of the association's administrative procedures regarding FIFA's disciplinary action against the registration of players due to the recent failure to pay joint contributions by Gwangju FC.'
The KFA ruled out the possibility of forfeiture due to the participation of unqualified players, saying, 'This case was caused by an unintentional administrative mistake, and therefore, it is too much to judge the players of Gwangju FC who have participated in the game so far as 'unqualified players'.
He added that it is more important to recognize the results of the previous game and ensure the qualification of players without attributable reasons and to ensure the stability of the tournament and league, rather than unqualified players by defining them as unqualified players.
However, the KFA drew a line saying that the association's judgment is separate from the possibility of disciplinary action against the association and Gwangju from FIFA and AFC. 'The association has already asked FIFA and AFC officials about the facts, emphasizing that it is an 'intentional administrative mistake' as much as possible, and will make active additional calling efforts.'"
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Gwangju is suspected of failing to pay Asani's solidarity contribution, which he hired in 2023. Solidarity contributions are money paid when a professional player moves internationally to a team in another country before the contract expires and a transfer fee is incurred. Clubs that recruit players through transfers must pay a certain percentage of solidarity contributions to each team to which the player belongs from the age of 12 to 23. FIFA implemented the 'clearing house system' in November 2022 to simplify the complicated procedure. It is a form of calculating the distribution of solidarity contributions and training compensation from FIFA's 'Clearing House' and distributing them to the club.
FIFA ordered the Gwangju club to pay about $3,100 (about 4.3 million won) in solidarity contributions to Asani's former team. Although Gwangju requested payment twice last year, it seems to have decided that it did not pay. FIFA eventually put Gwangju on the list of prohibited registration. FIFA provides information on clubs around the world that are currently banned from FIFA's registration of players. The list included clubs that were temporarily banned from registering players due to various violations, including financial disputes and violations of regulations. 'The FIFA registration ban list, which serves as an essential tool for member countries' associations, federations, clubs, players, and agents, helps ensure transparency and compliance within the sport, allowing stakeholders to identify which clubs are ineligible for new players during the ban period,' it reads.
FIFA stated that disciplinary action will take effect from December 17, 2024. The disciplinary deadline is 'until payment is made. A fine of 50 million Swiss francs (about 8.4 million won) for joint contributions and non-payment will be removed from the list only when the payment is confirmed in full. As specified by FIFA, the list of players prohibited from registering is a database that allows stakeholders related to player recruitment to determine which club is ineligible for player recruitment. It is also accessible to the general public. This means that the possibility of FIFA's administrative error is small, as some have raised.
Gwangju's position is like this. Gwangju says it paid solidarity contributions to FIFA 'Clearing House' virtual account on time, but was returned twice when the virtual account was closed. Since then, one of the two employees in charge of the work has left the company, and the other has taken a leave of absence, spending months with the remittance work unprocessed. It seems that the handover has not been done properly. This is why opinions that view this incident as 'human resources' dominate. The problem is that the transfer market opened immediately after the disciplinary point. The K League held a regular registration period (winter transfer market) from January 1st to March 27th. During this period, Gwangju recruited 10 new players, including Hayes, Sejong Jin Si-woo, Min Sang-ki, Hwang Jae-hwan, Park In-hyuk, Park Jung-in, Kwon Sung-yoon, Yoo Je-ho, and Kwak Sung-hoon. If you were aware of the ban on recruiting, you should not have recruited them.
In the process, the Korea Football Association, which oversees player registration through the Professional Football Federation, a higher-level organization, registered players. As a result, the association, the federation, and the Gwangju club violated FIFA's disciplinary action.
Gwangju's transfer players were also included in the Asian Champions League squad and played in the K-League and Champions League stages. In the Champions League, he surprised the Asian soccer community by reaching the quarterfinals in a surprise move. A domestic soccer official said 'Players recruited during the prohibition period are likely to be considered as 'bad players'. We can't rule out the possibility of forfeiting a game played by suspected irregularities. Japan's Sanfrecce Hiroshima forfeited and lost in the first round of the Champions League 2 quarterfinals against Ryan City last season for putting in Valerie Germain 'Dishonest player'. Hiroshima, which lost 0-3 in the first game, drew 1-1 in the second game and was eliminated. Germain was unable to play against Ryan City due to a three-game suspension from his former team.
Gwangju is optimistic that there will be no major problems, saying it is a "sanction, not disciplinary action". On the 13th, they are waiting for an answer after 're-transferring' solidarity contributions and fines to FIFA. A transfer market official said "I hear that the business process is not smooth not long after FIFA introduced the clearing house." Under these circumstances, the KFA ruled out the possibility of forfeiture. As soon as the solidarity contribution is paid, FIFA's judgment on whether it will end with one happening or whether additional sanctions will be imposed seems important in many ways.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
