Nat’l football body terminates deal with women’s coach Bell by mutual consent

The South Korean national football federation announced Thursday it has parted ways with women’s national team head coach Colin Bell by mutual consent.

The Korea Football Association (KFA) said it decided to terminate its contract with Bell with six months left on the deal. Since the two sides came to a mutual agreement, the KFA said it doesn’t owe Bell any additional money.

The 62-year-old Englishman took over South Korea in October 2019 as the first foreign-born bench boss for the women’s national team here. He had signed two extensions with the KFA prior to Thursday’s decision.

In 49 matches under Bell, South Korea had 24 wins, 10 draws and 15 losses.

Some positive vibes from his early days gradually gave way to disappointment. South Korea failed to win a match in the group stage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in July last year and then lost to North Korea in the quarterfinals of the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, two months later.

Later in 2023, South Korea missed out on qualification for the Paris Olympics, unable to get past North Korea and China in the second round.

With no tournament action scheduled, South Korea have played six friendlies so far this year, most recently losing to the United States in back-to-back matches by a combined 7-0 on June 1 and 4.

“We at the KFA decided the women’s national team needed a change to take the next step, and it would be better to start preparing for that at this 추천 juncture,” the KFA said in a statement. “Coach Bell also felt that considering his own future, it would serve him well to terminate the contract with six months left on his deal here.”

For the past couple of years, Bell often lashed out at the domestic WK League, where most of the national team players are based, for not preparing players for international competition. He claimed that the absence of relegation in the WK League means losing has no consequences, and that training sessions for clubs are too long and not intense enough.

There have not been notable changes to the women’s league here, and Bell’s constant criticism is believed to have ruffled some feathers in the WK League