FIFA will investigate the treatment of North Korea’s players and coach afte they returned from World Cup duty, Sepp Blatter has confirmed.
North Korea’s World Cup campaign ended with three straight defeats and reports have claimed coach Kim Jong-Hun was sentenced to hard labour and his squad were subjected to a six-hour interrogation by government officials on returning from South Africa.
And Blatter has admitted FIFA have contacted the new president of the North Korean Football Association concerning the allegations.
“(We contacted them) to tell us about the election of a new president, and if it is true, the allegations made by the media that the coach and some players have been condemned or punished,” he said in a press conference in Singapore.
“The first step is the federation and we’ll see what the answer will be, and then we can elaborate on that.”
FIFA oppose any form of government intervention in footballing matters and in the past have suspended federations, who breach their guidelines.
