FA storm. Reorganization of the case 2 | Is a document leaked or misunderstood?

Instant sports

Written by: Yuan Zhihao

2020-06-20 12:01

The Audit Commission report revealed a number of FA governance issues and confirmed that the party had made a mistake in recruiting former Hong Kong football coach Gary Whie in 2018. However, together with Chief Executive Officer Xue Jifu, the two parties have long since resigned and have no way of prosecuting.

The FA's board of directors will be chaired by Pei Junqi after his re-election in 2019. He handles criticism in a comprehensive manner and emphasizes listening to the voices of all parties. However, an internal document of the FA leaked, revealing that the party made repeated mistakes during the recruitment process, and also accused the FA of being suspected of sheltering. As a result, Bei Junqi was forced to hold a press conference to clarify, which led to the rebuttal of relevant people.

One wave was unsettled and another wave started again.

Since the audit report was released at the end of April, the outside world will focus on various governance issues of the FA, including whether the procedures are in line with the requirements for the recruitment of government and Jockey Club-funded positions.

However, following the turmoil in the recruitment of former Hong Kong football coach Wert, several media reported on May 25 this year that they received the FA's internal documents, revealing that the FA was promoted to British coach Samuel Bensley as the elite last year. The decision of the development coach was directly approved by the then chairman Liang Kongde without any discussion from the board of directors and the committee.

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Li Bensi joined the FA as grassroots football manager in September 2016 and was promoted to elite development coach in April last year. (Photo of the Hong Kong Jockey Club website)

The report also pointed out that Li Bensi received the highest salary that the post can afford after promotion, with an annual salary of more than 1 million yuan, which is double the original salary; Have the Asian Football Association A-level coach license or equivalent qualification.

On the same day, another media did not name the high-level FA team's suspected cover-up and interest transfer, pointing directly to the "high-paying hired coach", and questioning the declaration of false resumes.

The FA issued a press release that afternoon, without responding positively to the allegations, only emphasizing that “the technical directors in the recruitment team are experienced, and the technical directors and other members consider Li Bensi to be the best candidate after the interview.” However, the Football Association stated that Li Bensi’s personal data had been released to the media without consent and that he had received complaints and was investigating.

The FA was uncovered on the day of two scandals and the mistaken statement was refuted by "experienced judges"

Football Association President Bei Junqi responded to recent media reports on FA governance issues in his strokes, during which he talked about the controversy caused by R&F's participation in the Hong Kong Super League. (Photo by Yuan Zhihao)

Faced with the "external worry" of the audit report and the "internal trouble" of document leakage at the same time, the president of the football team, who always advocates "valuing peace", decided to hold a press conference on May 27 to clarify.

Regarding the leakage of Li Bensi's resume and related materials, he blamed the serious violation of personal privacy by the Chairman of the Football Association: "Some members requested access to the relevant information on the grounds of applying for a new five-year plan funding, but took away Li Bensi's personal resume without authorization. The FA Personnel Department has tried to prevent this person from asking him to sign a confidentiality agreement, but it has not been returned so far."

He also criticized some board members for being irresponsible at the meeting and used the media to "disguise" to discredit the FA and himself. During his speech, Bei Junqi was very excited to take the stage and published a letter with the same name as the standard wandering director Li Huili's foreign name "Philip", threatening to "correct the disorder", "Someone did not listen to the chairman's opinion because he was dissatisfied. , Want to engage in small circles, the purpose is to eliminate aliens."

Pei Junqi criticizes some people who have discredited and responded to the coach's resume suspected of fraud: the right candidate

Some people want to engage in a small circle to discredit the FA with the media, and I want to get things right.

At the end of the press conference, Bei Junqi displayed a letter with the name "Philip", the same name as Li Huili, the standard wandering director. (Photo by Yuan Zhihao)

The original intention of the FA to hold a press conference was to try to explain the allegations, but the results deviated from the center of gravity of the issue, leaving the focus of the outside world on the factional struggle within the FA. Two days later (May 29), Wu Jian, a special counsel of the FA’s Board of Directors, published WhatsApp records, certifying that he was authorized by the FA to review Li Bensi’s resume and related documents, and was unaware of the leakage of documents. It's busy, forget it. Fortunately, I have a record."

Wu Jian WhatsApp record (click to enlarge):

Wu Jian also revealed that he was informed by Bei Junqi at the end of last year that he no longer needs to attend the FA's board of directors and is currently not involved in any FA work. He believes that the two-person cooperation model "doesn't work", "I reminded the chairman in good faith, but I was accused of discrediting, I feel very troubled. I thought it was a good thing, who knows that it will attract ups and downs."

Wu Jian retorted that he never took documents without authorization.

I feel very troubled about being accused of discrediting, thinking that it is a good thing, who knows how to attract ups and downs.

Wu Jian, a special counsel of the FA's Board of Directors, responded to the recent disturbances at the Jockey Club Jazz Centre. (Photo by Yuan Zhihao)

This time the storm did not cool down, and Bei Junqi clarified others' clarification. He reiterated that he did not accuse Wu Jian of leaking information, nor did he directly authorize Wu Jian, but hoped to deal with it through the lawyer Cheng Mingyu, chairman of the FA Organization Development Committee.

Bei Junqi also explained that at the press conference, someone accused Mingyu of taking the document through, but the person did not sign the confidentiality agreement. As a result, the media reported daily that there was a misunderstanding within the FA. Cheng Mingyu sent a lawyer letter to Bei Junqi, asking the other party to clarify all kinds of accusations against him, and the incident finally came to an end.

However, the FA has not yet succeeded in completely "removing bombs". The Public Accounts Committee of the Legislative Council held a public hearing on the audit report. The FA was invited to send representatives to attend the interpretation and trigger a new crisis.

The audit report revealed a number of FA governance issues: (click to enlarge)

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