Abstract
Has anyone ever imagined that Korea could produce an English Premier League Golden boot player? It actually happened in 2022 when Son Heung-Min from Tottenham Hotspur achieved the monumental landmark, which filled the whole nation with football passion and happiness. The existence of a big star, like Son, triggered the Korea Football Association (hereafter KFA) to request to host the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup, from which China withdrew its June 2023 hosting right due to unsettled COVID-19 circumstances (AFC, 14th of May, 2022). When the newly elected President of the Republic of Korea, Yoon Suk-yeol, visited Sangam World Cup Stadium for the 20th anniversary match of the 2002 FIFA Korea/Japan World Cup, KFA President Chung Mong-kyu and KFA Vice President, the legendary Korean football player Lee Young-pyo, who is currently the CEO of K-League 1‘s Gangwon FC, proposed hosting the Asian Cup amidst the ‘Sonny Effect’.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Comparative Elite Sport Development |
| Subtitle of host publication | Systems, Structures and Public Policy: Second Edition |
| Publisher | Taylor and Francis |
| Pages | 121-135 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781040119945 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781032100777 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1 Jan 2024 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2025 selection and editorial matter, Jonathan Grix, Paul Michael Brannagan and Barrie Houlihan individual chapters, the contributors.