Nine heads of publicly funded K League clubs face criminal complaint over Cancun trip during World Cup

The heads of nine publicly funded K League clubs who traveled to the Mexican resort city of Cancun at taxpayer expense during the 2026 North and Central America World Cup have been reported to police following a controversy over the trip.

The Livelihood Economy Research Institute and a lawyers' group filed a criminal complaint Tuesday with the Korean National Police Agency against nine representatives of city- and province-owned K League clubs, at a press conference organized by Rep. Kim Jae-won of the Rebuilding Korea Party at the National Assembly.

Those named in the complaint are Kwon Il of Gimpo FC, Kim Tae-ju of Gangwon FC, Lee Heung-sil of Gyeongnam FC, Jang Yeong-bok of Daegu FC, Kim Seong-nam of Bucheon FC, Jang Won-jae of Seongnam FC, Kim Jeong-taek of Ansan Greeners, Lee Woo-hyeong of FC Anyang and Jo Geon-do of Incheon United.

The charges include breach of fiduciary duty, embezzlement and violations of the Act on the Management of Subsidies for Local Governments.

According to the civic groups, the Korea Professional Football League sent 25 people — including representatives of 21 clubs and league executives — to Mexico from June 18 to June 26 under a program called the "2026 K League Academy CEO Course," timed to coincide with World Cup matches held there.

The total cost came to about 710 million won ($497,000), split equally between the professional football league and the individual clubs.

The controversy erupted when it emerged that the itinerary included a two-night stay in Cancun — a world-renowned resort destination — beyond the official schedule. The only confirmed program was attendance at South Korea's three group-stage matches, yet participants spent two nights in Cancun with seminars in the mornings and free time in the afternoons for activities including visits to historical sites. The Cancun portion of the schedule had not been listed in official documents distributed to the clubs in advance.

Despite the leisure-oriented nature of the trip, the city- and province-club representatives flew business class rather than economy.

Of the 21 participating clubs, 11 were publicly funded city or provincial clubs operating on taxpayer money. According to Yonhap, the league had notified clubs in writing that choosing economy class would save about 6 million won per person, yet the nine representatives named in the complaint each billed their clubs 15.92 million won for business-class tickets.

A business-class ticket cost about 5.93 million won more than an economy seat — a combined excess of about 53 million won for the nine executives.

Kim Jin-hyeong, the head of Yongin FC, held the same rank as those named in the complaint but chose economy class. The secretary-general who represented Suwon FC also flew economy, on the grounds that his position did not qualify for business-class travel under the club's travel expense regulations.

The civic groups argue that compliance with the rules was clearly feasible, as those two cases demonstrate.

The two organizations said their complaint includes each club's travel expense regulations, trip approval documents, funding sources and the circumstances under which the Cancun itinerary was added, and called for the recovery of any improperly spent public funds. They added they are also considering filing a residents' audit request with the relevant local governments, separately from the criminal complaint.

Rep. Kim first raised the issue at a Korea Football Association hearing on July 30. He said the clubs had spared no taxpayer money on business-class seats and a Cancun stay for their executives while claiming budgets were too tight to support players and youth programs. "This is not simply a matter of moral hazard — it is a serious case of squandering public assets for private benefit," he said.