South Korea’s World Cup team closed off its practice on Friday, officials said, though there was no strategic reasoning behind the move.

“There really isn’t a special reason for holding practice behind closed doors,” an official with the Korea Football Association said. “The team just wanted to train in a quiet setting.”

This will be the second time that South Korea will practice without the media since opening the camp on May 12 at the National Football Center in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, in preparation for the summer’s FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Head coach Hong Myung-bo also kept out the press for practice on Saturday.

The KFA said the NFC will open its doors to the media again on the weekend.

For the past week or so, with more players from overseas leagues reporting to the camp, the NFC has been crowded with journalists easily outnumbering the 23-man squad, plus its coaches and officials.


Korean football body denies QPR comments

The South Korean football governing body on Friday rejected comments made by QPR head coach Harry Redknapp that his defender Yun Suk-young was given permission to stay with the English club during the ongoing pre-World Cup training camp.

Yun’s availability has been a sticking point between the Korea Football Association and QPR. The second division English club will face Derby County in a one-and-one showdown for promotion to the top-flight Premier League for next season.

The KFA has tried to bring Yun, recently named to South Korea’s 23-man squad for this year’s FIFA World Cup, to the training camp since last week. He had been scheduled to arrive in South Korea on May 14.

The controversy took a turn for the bizarre on Friday, Korean time, when Redknapp was quoted as saying on Sky Sports’ website that South Korean head coach Hong Myung-bo had actually allowed Yun to stay with QPR for the key match.

“It’s fantastic that the Korea coach has allowed him to stay in England and be part of our team for the game,” Redknapp said.

“We are delighted with that.” (Yonhap)