[Yonhap News Photo]
South Korean tycoon Chung Mong-Joon will not abandon a legal battle with FIFA, saying he would send an appeal to a Swiss court next week against a five-year ban imposed by an appeal committee of the world's football governing body.
Chung's decision came after he received an explanatory note belatedly from the committee about its ruling last year to suspend him.
A former FIFA vice president and Asian football powerbroker, Chung had launched his campaign for the FIFA presidency, describing himself as a corruption-free candidate, but he abandoned his bid after he was banned by FIFA's ethics committee for six years in 2015.
Chung, 65, was accused of having contravened rules while lobbying for South Korea's bid for the 2022 World Cup, which was awarded to Qatar in 2010. Denying any wrongdoing, Chung appealed but the appeal committee handed down a five-year ban.
In a press conference on Thursday, Chung said he would bring his case to the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), insisting some FIFA committee members are still working for suspended former FIFA head Sepp Blatter. He would send an appeal to the court next week, accusing the committee of sending documents deliberately late.
Chung said his battle is not for his personal honor but for FIFA's true reform, asking new President Gianni Infantino to pay attention to his case.
Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
