Chung Mong-gyu keeps FIFA, AFC posts after stepping down as Korea football chief

Chung Mong-gyu, who stepped down as president of the Korea Football Association, is set to continue his work in international football.

The key positions Chung currently holds at FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation remain valid regardless of whether he retains his domestic association presidency, Yonhap News Agency reported Wednesday. Even if he resigns mid-term, his vacated seat does not necessarily have to be filled by someone from the same country.

Chung, a former FIFA Council member, returned to the international football diplomacy stage in May 2024 when he was elected to the AFC Executive Committee — the AFC's top executive body, which makes major administrative decisions including the selection of tournament hosts. The committee comprises 30 members: the AFC president, five vice presidents, six FIFA Council members (one of whom is a woman serving concurrently as an executive committee member), and 18 additional executive committee members. The current term runs from 2023 through the 2027 general assembly.

Chung, who was elected to fill a vacant East Asia regional seat on the executive committee, serves out the same term.

He was also appointed vice chair of the AFC Member Associations Committee in August 2024. That committee, one of the AFC's 16 standing committees, oversees and facilitates relations between the confederation and its member associations.

Chung's involvement at FIFA also continues. Last October, he was appointed vice chair of FIFA's newly established Commercial and Marketing Advisory Committee. At the same time, former national team player Park Ji-sung — currently co-chair of the K-Football Innovation Committee — was named to FIFA's Men's Football Stakeholders Committee. Both FIFA standing committee appointments run through 2029, a four-year term.

Meanwhile, Chung took office as the KFA's 52nd president in January 2013 and went on to win four consecutive terms, leading the association for 13 years and five months before submitting his resignation on Monday.