South Korean FA condemns ‘personal attacks’ as rift rumours grow

The South Korean national team faced claims of internal divisions ahead of the Asian Cup scheduled for January in Saudi Arabia. (EPA Images pic) SEOUL: South Korea's football association has told fans to stop "excessive personal attacks", warning of the "psychological burden" it could inflict on national team players in the crosshairs since their World Cup flop.

Hong Myung-bo quit as coach after the team failed to advance past the group stage in North America, and Spanish interim Robert Moreno is awaiting word on a possible extension.

With the Asian Cup scheduled to take place in January in Saudi Arabia, the national side are engulfed by claims of internal divisions.

Local media reports say some younger players feel held back by senior members of the squad, including long-time captain Son Heung-min.

In a lengthy statement, the Korea Football Association condemned what it called attempts to sow discord.

"Unverified information and speculative claims about national football team players have recently been spreading on social media and online forums, with some players facing excessive criticism and personal attacks," the KFA said on Tuesday.

"Such behaviour goes beyond the bounds of legitimate criticism and can place a severe psychological burden on individual players," it said, urging fans to refrain from "making assumptions about internal team dynamics and fuelling divisions within the squad".

Speculation about discord emerged after Bayern Munich defender Kim Min-jae threw his boots in anger after being substituted in the second half of the disappointing home 0-0 draw with Venezuela this month.

Kim said afterwards that "every player needs to put their head down and give it their all", fuelling talk of divisions within the squad.

The latest firestorm follows public outrage over the behaviour of some players who earned exemptions from mandatory military service after winning gold at the Asian Games.

Their post-match celebrations, seen as suggesting that military exemptions had been their main motivation, sparked a backlash and prompted defence minister Kang Shin-chul to pledge to scale back the benefit.