South Korea's governing body for football denied allegations that preferential treatment was given during the interview process before selection of Hong Myung-bo as new head coach for the men's national team.

In a statement posted on its website on Monday, the Korea Football Association(KFA) said while it had complied with regulations during the entire process, in situations where there was no related regulation, it had prioritized ways to appoint the head coach without a setback.

The KFA, however, apologized for causing misunderstandings due to its lack of rules and protocol under emergency situations, an apparent reference to the resignation of former National Team Committee chief Chung Hae-sung as the panel neared narrowing the list of candidacy to three people.

The KFA said there were no regulatory issues over technical director Lee Lim-saeng taking over final interviews and negotiation with the candidates.
 
Asked about the alleged preferential treatment of Hong, the association said it had not verified data on him as it already had a good basic understanding of domestic coaches' playing style and football philosophy.