This Jan. 8 photo shows the signboard outside the Korea Football Association House in Seoul. Yonhap

A controversial election for the head of the national football governing body has been rescheduled for Jan. 23.

The election management committee of the Korea Football Association (KFA) announced the new date on Thursday, a day after the election was supposed to have been held. On Tuesday, the Seoul Central District Court granted an injunction filed by one of the three candidates, Huh Jung-moo, to halt the process over breaches of procedural rules.

Huh, former head coach of the men's national team, is running against Chung Mong-gyu, who is pursuing his fourth term in charge, and Shin Moon-sun, a former player and television commentator.

Soon after the new schedule was announced, both Huh and Shin bristled at what they claimed was a hasty decision by the KFA and insisted they never agreed to move the election to Jan. 23.

In filing for the injunction on Dec. 30, Huh had accused the KFA of lacking transparency by refusing to disclose the identity of the election management committee and of holding the draw for the random selection of voters for the electoral college without a third-party observer in attendance. Huh also claimed the KFA had dropped active coaches and players from the electoral college for dubious, administrative reasons and charged that it had intentionally tried to exclude a certain sector of voters.

After the Seoul court sided with Huh, the KFA's committee said Thursday it will redo the draw for the electoral college from scratch on Sunday and finalize the list of voters by next Thursday. The three candidates will then have the official campaign period from next Thursday to the following Wednesday, Jan. 22.

According to the KFA committee, the three candidates will each have a representative sitting in on the draw to ensure the process will be done fairly.

"We are disappointed that the court halted the election on Tuesday, because we had been preparing for the election impartially without breaching rules, but we do respect the court's decision," the committee said in a statement. "We also express our regret that this has caused disruption to the election process."

Per KFA election rules, candidates must be under the age of 70 on the day of the election. Huh will turn 70 on Monday, but the KFA's committee said he will be allowed to remain in the race.

"We have rescheduled the election following the court's ruling to enhance the fairness and transparency of the process," it said. "Therefore, candidates who have already registered will maintain their eligibility for the new date of the election."

According to Huh, representatives for all three candidates and a member of the election management committee met Thursday afternoon to discuss follow-up steps after the court's ruling, but no consensus was reached on the new date of the election.

"The KFA lied to the media and the public when it announced the election will be held on Jan. 23, as if all candidates had agreed to the new schedule," Huh said in a statement. "Issues raised by the court have not been fundamentally resolved."

An official in Huh's camp added, "If they press ahead with this, we may have to file for another injunction."

Shin noted a recent decision by the sports ministry to dismiss the KFA's appeal against the ministry's demand to "at least suspend" Chung over a series of rules violations. The KFA must impose disciplinary measures on Chung within a month of the ministry's decision, which came down last Thursday.

"The KFA committee's decision to set such a tight schedule could only be seen as a move to protect Chung," Shin said. "It's because of the committee that the election has been postponed, and it has to be reassembled from scratch before the election can be rescheduled." (Yonhap)