FIFA opens investigation into alleged North Korea punishments
FIFA have launched
an investigation into allegations that the North Korean World Cup coach
and players were reprimanded by the government after their early exit
from this year’s tournament in South Africa.
Last month, Radio
Free Asia said that the Korean squad, apart from two foreign-based
players, were subjected to “harsh ideological criticism” after they
lost all three matches and conceded the most amount of goals by a team
at the World Cup.
“We sent a letter
to the football federation to tell us about their election of a new
president and to find out if the allegations made by the media that the
coach and some players were condemned and punished are true,” FIFA
President Sepp Blatter told reporters on Wednesday.
“We are doing this as a first step and we will see how they answer.”
After starting only
their second World Cup brightly with a 2-1 defeat by five-times
champions Brazil, North Korea were humiliated 7-0 by Portugal and
easily beaten 3-0 by Ivory Coast.
Blatter said the
investigation was launched after FIFA executive committee member Chung
Mong-joon, from South Korea, had delivered new information on the issue.
Asian Football
Confederation President Mohamed Bin Hammam, who recently travelled to
the secretive communist nation, said he was hopeful the investigation
would prove conclusive.
“There was an unconfirmed report that these players have gone through torture or something like that, but I can’t confirm that.
“I haven’t seen anything with my eyes or heard anything with my
ears. Maybe this FIFA investigation can clear the air.” Blatter, Bin
Hammam and Chung were in Singapore to launch the soccer tournament at
the inaugural Youth Olympic Games.
Leave a Reply