A domestic friendly between Napoli (Italy) and Mallorca (Spain) scheduled for next month has been cancelled. The organisers failed to meet the conditions set by the Korean Football Association (KFA).

On the 25th, the KFA informed the consortium that was organising the two friendlies that they would not be allowed to hold the matches. The friendly match was organised by a consortium of promoters Untouchable Sports Group (USG) and Stadium X. The consortium had originally planned to hold the match on 8 June in Seoul.

The consortium had initially planned to hold the two friendlies on 8 June at the Seoul World Cup Stadium and 10 June at the Goyang Sports Complex. Fans’ attention was also focused on the visit of Napoli, the Italian Serie A champions and Kim Min-jae’s team, and Mallorca, where Lee Kang-in played as an ace.메이저놀이터

However, on the 10th, there are three K League matches scheduled, including three K League 1 matches, and the Korean Football Association has clearly expressed its opposition. The consistent stance was that the timing was inappropriate as it would take away from the attention of the K League due to the invitation of foreign teams. In order for the KFA to approve the tournament, the federation’s consent was essential.

The consortium argued that last year’s Tottenham-Sevilla friendly was also held on the same day as a K League match, so the KFA would have no grounds to reject it. However, the KFA countered that the situation was different this time around, as last year’s match had to be moved up a day to accommodate the national team’s schedule.

There were also criticisms that it was disrespectful to the K League to push for a friendly match with a foreign team when the K League schedule was already in place. The federation ultimately did not agree to the 10-day game. Instead, it did not express a position on the eight-day game. All eyes were on whether the consortium would organise even one game on the eighth day.

But there was a catch. While the KFA asked the consortium if they would host any of the remaining matches, they also looked at whether they could afford to organise and pay for foreign teams to visit the country. This was a particularly sensitive issue in the wake of the Cristiano Ronaldo “no-show” incident.

In preparation, the KFA required the consortium to put up a multi-billion-dollar deposit, or about 10 per cent of the expected revenue from the first leg, of 800 million won, and a special agreement on how they would be compensated in the event of a player no-show. This was a contingency plan in case the KFA wanted to hold a match on the 8th.

However, according to the KFA, the consortium was unable to fulfil these conditions and the KFA made the final decision to refuse to organise the friendlies altogether. The visits of Napoli and Mallorca, which had been rumoured throughout the process, were also cancelled.