The ball fired by Ahn Se-young, the rotten Badminton Association – abolishing sports practices [스한 위클리]

[스포츠한국 이재호 기자] He deserved praise more than anyone else. Following Bang Bang-hyun in 1996, she gave Korea the first Olympic badminton women’s singles gold medal in 28 years, and it is no exaggeration to say that its value was by far the most valuable among all the medals won by Korea at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

However, as soon as Ahn Se-young (22) won the gold medal, she had no time to rejoice and exposed the absurdity of the Badminton Association and the wrong practices of Korean sports that she had endured for so long. Then, more focus was placed on the revelations rather than Ahn Se-young’s gold medal, and public opinion boiled over.

When he spoke with the qualifications of being an Olympic gold medalist, the people listened more closely to Ahn Se-young’s words. The ball shot by Ahn Se-young served as an opportunity to reveal the rotten corruption of the Badminton Association and correct wrong practices in Korean sports after an investigation by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism that lasted nearly three months.

ⓒYonhap News

▶Key points of the final announcement of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s audit

On October 31, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced the final results of the Badminton Association audit conducted over a three-month period. In addition to simply auditing the Badminton Association, an overall audit of the Korean sports system was also conducted, and recommendations for revision were also included.

First, we will significantly improve the player injury management system. The goal is to guarantee each player’s right to choose, from injury diagnosis to rehabilitation treatment. The plan is to allow players to manage their injuries at the medical institution of their choice. In connection with this, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism promised to expand medical personnel and space at the Jincheon National Athletes’ Village.

He also declared that he would establish a related system so that players in all sports, not just badminton, can use personal trainers and participate in national team training.

He also announced that he would break down the absurdity of life in the athletes’ village. The ban on staying out on public holidays and weekends is said to be abolished because it is a ‘human rights’ issue. He also declared that he would eliminate the culture of players cleaning up, doing laundry on behalf of their seniors, and reporting to their seniors and coaches when going out, calling it an “old practice.” It was also announced that early morning training and mountain training, which players are concerned about due to injury concerns, will also be abolished.

In the case of badminton, it was also announced that the lack of systematic customized training for singles and doubles would be improved. Since the number of coaches is small, young players train among themselves, and they plan to expand their coaching staff.

Additionally, instead of returning to the athlete village unconditionally after attending an overseas competition, athletes were asked to take a break before returning. There is an opinion that a system will be established to evenly send first and second players according to the importance of the competition, improving the situation in which the national team’s first-tier players have a hard time with too many games and second-tier players cannot participate in competitions at all.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism also promised to improve the problems that remain only with the Badminton Association. From the situation where individuals are not allowed to participate in overseas competitions, the goal is to guarantee players the right to choose rackets and shoes that are directly related to their performance, so that they do not only use sponsors that have signed a contract with the association.

In addition to calls for system improvement, the Badminton Association’s corruption was also revealed in this investigation. First, they demanded the dismissal of Chairman Kim Taek-gyu because he clearly violated the subsidy law. Payment of taxes that were not withheld, the absurd act of helping profits by designating a company with an association executive as an authorized product, and the president’s verbal abuse and abusive language were also confirmed to be true.

Lee Jeong-woo, head of the investigation team at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Director of Sports), who was in charge of the announcement, said, “If the Badminton Association does not make changes this time, we will determine that it is incapable of self-correction and will take special measures such as designating a management body to fire all executives of the association and suspending budget support other than player support.” He even said, “I will push forward with it.”

A briefing by Director Lee Jeong-woo of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. ⓒYonhap News

▶Cheering players – worried leaders

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism did not simply listen to Ahn Se-young’s opinion. We listened to the opinions of the badminton team players, and most of them had the same opinion. In fact, it is known that some players took this opportunity to report more irregularities.

In the end, thanks to the ball that Ahn Se-young shot, not only other badminton team players benefited, but other national team players in the Jincheon Training Center also benefited in many ways.

In particular, athletes who did not receive proper treatment due to limited medical personnel in the athletes’ village, and the youngest athletes who did not receive training solely for themselves, are expected to be able to enjoy a better life in the athletes’ village with the expansion of medical staff and coaches.

However, an atmosphere of concern can be sensed among leaders and officials. There are concerns about a lack of discipline among athletes due to the ban on staying out on weekends, returning after rest after participating in international competitions, and the abolition of early morning and mountain training. Although they say, ‘I hated it when I was an athlete,’ there are leaders who believe that early morning mountain training is definitely effective, and there are also criticisms that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is interfering a little too much with athletes’ village life.

Kim Taek-gyu, President of the Korea Badminton Association. ⓒYonhap News

▶The ball fired by Ahn Se-young, the starting point of changing Korean sports

What is clear, though, is that Ahn Se-young has become an opportunity to change the problems of the Korea Sports and Badminton Association, which have been wrong for as long as anyone can see.

The player’s right to receive the treatment he wants, the player’s right to use the equipment he wants, and the right not to do his senior’s laundry were obvious mistakes to anyone.

The year is 2024, and the sports world, which still practices the bad habits and practices of the 1970s and 1980s, has no choice but to change with this audit announcement.

Even after winning the historic gold medal, Ahn Se-young could not fully enjoy it. Rather, they went through a difficult time exposing the absurdity of the past and calling for change.

Ahn Se-young, who recently left the Denmark Open, intentionally left time with the players and coaching staff before entering the arrival hall and did not answer questions from reporters. This is because everyone who looks at Ahn Se-young still focuses on the revelations rather than the achievements she has achieved.

Will this final audit announcement from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the top organization in Korean sports, really make Ahn Se-young smile? What is clear is that thanks to Ahn Se-young’s courageous revelations, not only current players but also young players who will become national players in the future can be proud of the Taegeuk symbol as a better national team in Korean sports that needed improvement.

ⓒYonhap News

-Suhan Weekly: Sports Korea provides in-depth information on major sports-related issues every weekend through a special article called ‘Suhan Weekly.’ This article will also be published simultaneously in Weekly Korea, a general current affairs weekly magazine.

Sports Korea Reporter Lee Jae-ho [email protected]