“Nepotism defeated us.” The South Korean president opened fire on football officials after the World Cup shock sports

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung launched a scathing attack on his country’s football officials after the team’s exit from the group stage of the 2026 World Cup, considering that the failure was a direct result of “the preference for favoritism over competence.”

South Korea exited the tournament early despite being in a group that seemed within reach, as it began its journey by defeating the Czechs (2-1), before suffering two successive defeats to Mexico (1-0) and South Africa (1-0), failing to reserve a place among the best teams qualifying for the round of 16.

In a lengthy post on the “X” platform, President Lee Jae-myung expressed his strong dissatisfaction with the failure, saying: “What I feel goes beyond bewilderment, it is a deep sense of absurdity in the face of this unexpected result.”

The president held responsible for the exclusion of the management mechanisms within the Korean Football Association, stressing that “giving priority to nepotism and divisions instead of competence, and appointing unqualified people to leadership positions, makes such an outcome almost inevitable.”

Criticism also escalated towards the national team’s coach, after he left captain Son Heung-min on the bench during the first half of the decisive match against South Africa, a decision that sparked a wide wave of controversy within Korean sports circles.

The president added that the sports failure reflects “an organizational failure and poor appointments,” pledging to make urgent reforms within the sports system, and offering his apologies to the fans for the early exit.

He said at the conclusion of his message: “I sincerely apologize to the fans for the great disappointment caused by this unacceptable failure, and we will work to quickly reform the sports administration so that such a failure is not repeated in the future.”