Sports Ministry criticizes Badminton Korea Association for violating own policies

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism issued a statement on Friday pointing out that the Badminton Korea Association violated its own policies when it chose to investigate Olympic gold medalist An Se-young’s remarks.

Olympic gold medalist Ah Se-young answers questions from the press on Aug. 7 [YONHAP]

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism issued a statement on Friday pointing out that the Badminton Korea Association violated its own policies when it chose to investigate Olympic gold medalist An Se-young’s remarks.

The Sports Ministry on Friday said the association went ahead with forming a factfinding committee without the required vetting process by the association’s council — citing Article 14, Paragraph 2 of the association's rule book.

Paragraph 1 of the same article states that the association can put together a committee first and be vetted afterward if the matter being investigated is “light and urgent.” But the Sports Ministry criticized the way the committee was formed and said that the matter was far from minor.

The Sports Ministry continued on by criticizing the association for not convening a board of directors' meeting, despite having sufficient time to do so after its president returned to Korea on Aug. 7.

According to the association’s regulations, the board must be notified five days in advance for a meeting, but this period can be shortened in urgent situations. However, the association took no action and simply announced the formation of the committee on Thursday.

The ministry also pointed out that the timing of the investigation was inappropriate. Many members of the national badminton team are scheduled to participate in the Daihatsu Japan Open, leaving for Japan on Aug. 18 and staying there until Aug. 25, making it physically difficult to conduct a swift investigation.

Sports Minister Yu In-chon said Monday that the ministry “will dispatch about 10 officials to the association on Tuesday or Wednesday” to launch its own investigation into the association. In 2024, the association received a total of 7.12 billion won ($5.2 million) in subsidies from the Sports Ministry.

The Korean Sport and Olympic Committee (KOC) shortened the dissolution ceremony of Team Korea on Tuesday upon the team’s return, citing the exhaustion of the athletes. The Sports Minister was not able to meet Team Korea at the time.

BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]