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

Colin Bell speaks during a press conference in Brisbane, Australia, Aug. 2, 2023. Yonhap

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 바카라사이트 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 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

NAT'L FOOTBALL BODY TERMINATES DEAL WITH WOMEN'S COACH BELL BY MUTUAL CONSENT