On August 26, according to Korean media outlet "Dong-A Sports," Sangmu FC (the athletic corps of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces) committed a significant administrative error during the selection process for the third group of military-service athletes for 2026. A staff member made a data entry error when inputting scores, which resulted in changes to the final selection list.

As a result, defender Lee Ki-hyuk (26, Gangwon FC), who represented the Korean national team at the 2026 World Cup and started all three group-stage matches, was unexpectedly excluded from the selection list.

World Cup Player Unexpectedly Excluded, Raising Questions

The Korea Military Personnel Administration announced the military-service athlete selection plan on April 30 this year. Selected individuals will enlist in groups from September to December this year, with football players scheduled to enlist on October 12.

Lee Ki-hyuk participated in the football military-service athlete selection held in May this year, but his name did not appear on the final selection list announced on August 6.

Initially, Lee Ki-hyuk's exclusion was thought to be related to the timing of his A-team national squad appearances. According to regulations, only A-team national squad results from May 8, 2025 to May 7, 2026 (one year before the application deadline) are considered for selection.

Lee Ki-hyuk previously made his national team debut in July 2022 against Hong Kong in the EAFF E-1 Football Championship, but was not called up to the national team for a considerable period afterward.

However, before the World Cup finals began, he was recalled to the national squad and participated in two preparatory matches and all three group-stage matches of the World Cup. These five national team appearances took place in June this year.

Therefore, when a Korean national team player who had just participated in the World Cup and started all three group-stage matches failed to join Sangmu FC, questions from the public quickly emerged.

Score Entry Error Becomes Key to Changing Selection Results

As questions about Lee Ki-hyuk's exclusion continued to mount, Sangmu FC reexamined relevant application materials and discovered a problem in the process.

According to multiple K League sources, the true reason for Lee Ki-hyuk's exclusion was a score entry error in calculating the total score from written materials and practical skills assessments.

Specifically, Player A, who competed with Lee Ki-hyuk for the same position, should have received 1,400 points but was incorrectly entered as 4,100 points during data entry.

This unusually high score directly changed the final ranking, causing Lee Ki-hyuk to fall outside the selection list.

In Sangmu FC's player selection process, active-duty non-commissioned officers conduct the first round of evaluation, followed by a second round of review by a judging committee that includes external members.

However, such an obvious scoring error was not caught in either round of review.

Ultimately, the erroneous score directly resulted in an inversion of the player ranking, with selected and rejected candidates reversed.

Sangmu FC Apologizes and Studies "Concurrent Selection" Plan

After confirming the error, Sangmu FC contacted Gangwon FC and Lee Ki-hyuk on August 23 to explain the situation and apologize. On August 24, they met personally with Player A and his club to provide an explanation.

The problem is that Player A had already received his enlistment notice, and his club had already acquired a replacement player based on his imminent enlistment, so this error has already had practical consequences for the other club. The club reportedly protested strongly against this.

Since the responsibility lies entirely with Sangmu FC, the relevant departments are currently studying a remedial plan to allow both Lee Ki-hyuk and Player A to be eligible for enlistment.

The current plan is to reduce by one the number of football players selected in the "2027 First Military-Service Athlete Selection" recruitment, whose enlistment is scheduled for March next year, and present the plan to the Ministry of National Defense. They are currently awaiting a response.

Although this handling method will not affect other sports, K League clubs must adjust their rosters based on whether players enlist, so the Korean football community's attitude toward this matter remains quite critical.

An apparently simple score entry error not only directly changed the enlistment outcome for World Cup national team player Lee Ki-hyuk but also placed another player and his club in a difficult position. Now, Sangmu FC is attempting to allow both players to be eligible for enlistment through corrective measures, but this absurd administrative error has already raised widespread questions throughout the Korean football community.

Traducido por IA.

¡El sitio web de AF ya está disponible! Consulta noticias, comentarios, detalles de partidos y estadísticas en tu ordenador. Visita: www.allfootballapp.com