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 Responding to media reports that world soccer's governing body was
investigating the South Korean billionaire over the 'disaster
relief' funds, Chung said in a statement he had been donating money
to causes at home and abroad since the 1990s.
"Recent media reports allege that FIFA has started an investigation
into FIFA Honorary Vice President Dr. Chung Mong-Joon’s 2010
donations to disaster relief funds to Haiti and Pakistan," said the
statement.
"If these reports are true, we condemn this as a cynical and
unethical effort by FIFA to misrepresent even charitable donations
for political manipulation."
FIFA's ethics committee does not comment on ongoing cases and there
has been no confirmation from the governing body that Chung is in
their crosshairs.
The scion of Korea's Hyundai industrial conglomerate formally
launched his bid to replace Sepp Blatter as FIFA president in Paris
earlier this week with a stinging attack on Blatter and Michel
Platini, head of Europe's ruling body UEFA and a rival candidate for
the FIFA presidency.
Blatter responded by saying he was "disturbed" by Chung's criticism,
noting the South Korean had been an influential member of FIFA for
17 years until 2011.
WORST CRISIS
FIFA will hold an elective congress on Feb. 26 to decide on a
replacement for Blatter, who is standing down following the
organization's corruption scandals.
U.S. prosecutors indicted nine soccer officials, most of whom had
FIFA positions, and five marketing and broadcasting company
executives, in May over a range of alleged offences, including
fraud, money-laundering and racketeering.
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Blatter was re-elected for a fifth term as FIFA president on May 29,
but four days later said he would lay down his mandate amid the
worst crisis in the body's history.
Chung, who told Reuters late last month he was wary of Blatter
trying to sabotage his campaign, also said in the statement he had
provided relief assistance to many different countries including
Turkey, Bangladesh, China and Myanmar.
"As chairman of the Asan Foundation, the largest philanthropic
organization in Korea, Dr. Chung also helped the foundation provide
medical assistance to victims of the Indonesian tsunami, 2005
Pakistan earthquake, and Sri Lankan tsunami," the statement said.
"In January 2010, as chairman of the ruling Grand National Party in
the Korean National Assembly, Dr. Chung also announced at a party
meeting he would personally donate money to earthquake relief
efforts in Haiti."
(Reporting by Peter Rutherford, additional reporting by Julian
Linden; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)
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