The Korea Football Association issued an apology on the afternoon of the 26th regarding the failure to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympic finals.
The Korea Football Association posted an apology titled "Regarding the Failure to Qualify for the Olympic Football Finals" on its website.
In the apology, the association stated, "We deeply apologize to football fans, football personnel, and the public for the failure to qualify for the Paris Olympic finals," and added, "We are fully aware that the Korea Football Association, which nurtures and supports the national football team, holds overall responsibility, and once again, we sincerely apologize."
The South Korea U-23 football team, led by head coach Hwang Sun-hong, lost in a penalty shootout to the Indonesian national team, coached by Shin Tae-yong, in the quarterfinals of the 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup held this morning at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar. This tournament also served as the final Asian qualifying round for the 2024 Paris Olympic men's football competition, where reaching at least the semifinals was required to qualify for the Olympic finals.
With the quarterfinal exit, South Korean football failed to qualify for the Olympic finals for the 10th consecutive time. This marks the first time in 40 years since the 1984 Los Angeles (LA) Olympics that South Korea will not participate in the Olympic football tournament.
Below is the full text of the apology issued by the Korea Football Association.
We deeply apologize to football fans, football personnel, and the public for the failure to qualify for the Paris Olympic finals due to the defeat in today's 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup quarterfinal match.
All coaching staff and players did their best to achieve the goal of qualifying for the Olympics for the 10th consecutive time, but unfortunately, we did not succeed.
We are fully aware that the Korea Football Association, which nurtures and supports the national football team, holds overall responsibility, and once again, we sincerely apologize.
We will thoroughly review and improve the systems for player and coach development and national team management to ensure that failures like today’s do not happen again.
We will successfully complete the urgent task of appointing the national team head coach and do our best to bring joy to the public through good performances in the ongoing 2026 CONCACAF World Cup Asian qualifiers.
Thank you.
April 26, 2024
Korea Football Association
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