Sports Ministry orders badminton association to overhaul treatment of athletes

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism excoriated the Badminton Korea Association in its conclusion of an investigation after an Olympic gold medalist lashed out for mistreatment.

Director General for Sports Lee Jung-woo from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, left, speaks during a briefing at the government complex in central Seoul on Thursday. [YONHAP]

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism demanded that the Badminton Korea Association (BKA) abolish rules that hinder players from competing on the international stage and allow players to undergo medical treatment at their preferred facilities in the conclusion of an investigation opened in the wake of a star athlete's criticism of the federation.

Director General for Sports Lee Jung-woo said during a briefing at the government complex in central Seoul on Thursday that the ministry will force the BKA to scrap a rule that effectively prevents national team players from competing in international tournaments by disallowing them to spend their own money to participate.

Lee said that the BKA is the only Korean sports association with such rule. He added that the ministry will also force the BKA to abolish a rule that only allows players to compete in international tournaments after they have played for the national team for five years and have reached the required age — 28 for men and 27 for women — as it hinders the number of players competing on the international stage.

Lee also promised that reserve players on the national team will have a chance to compete on the international stage, as it will help the national team discover talent and facilitate a successful generational shift.

National team players the ministry met voiced their opinions on the necessity for the BKA to allow reserve players to compete in international tournaments, as only permitting regular picks to do so results in increasing their injury risk while hindering experience outside of Korea for reserve players, according to a document released by the ministry.

China and Taiwan have already adopted a strategy through which they allow the two groups of players to participate in international events, according to the document.

The ministry’s findings came at a press conference on Thursday that revealed the conclusion of the ministry’s probe into the BKA, which was opened after Olympic gold medalist An Se-young publicly called out the association minutes after winning the women's competition at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena in Paris in August. An criticized the BKA for being overly controlling of athletes and limiting where and for whom they can compete, as well as for mismanaging her recovery from an injury last year.

Korea's An Se-young competes in the gold medal women's singles badminton match at the Paris Olympics in Paris on Aug. 5. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

The ministry pointed out that the BKA has no guideline on how it should take care of the injury or rehabilitation process and promised that it would make the BKA allow players to treat injuries more efficiently.

“From now on, players will be allowed to take care of their injury at their preferred medical facilities,” Lee said. “[The ministry] will also make sure to increase medical personnel at the Jincheon National Team Training Center. There is a lack of medical support for national team athletes, which results in a situation where many players receive treatment at a certain time or causes a delay in receiving a treatment.

“Starting next year, [the ministry] will have national team players undergo a medical after being selected for the national team just like professional team players.”

The ministry also took a firm position on BKA board members breaking association policies to receive incentives, requiring the association to set new guidelines on how its board members can receive bonuses gained through policy violations.

Director General for Sports Lee Jung-woo from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism speaks during a briefing at Government Complex Seoul in central Seoul on Thursday. [NEWS1]

“First, we demand that board members return incentives they received by breaking association rules,” Lee said, “The association paid its vice president and executive director 68 million won ($49,300) for their achievements and paid its president and executive director 1 million and 500,000 won, respectively, as holiday bonuses.

“We ask the BKA to make a guideline so that board members do not use their own budgets laxly and report it to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.”

The ministry also revealed during an interim briefing on the probe on Sept. 10 that BKA board members took a certain amount of money for their involvement in hosting sponsors for international events in Korea, even though they are now allowed to receive any incentive fees according to the association’s rules.

Lee also said the ministry will request a police investigation into BKA President Kim Taek-gyu for embezzlement and breach of trust as he improperly distributed 150 million won worth of sponsored goods in 2023.

“We think this is the last chance for the BKA to correct their wrongdoings,” Lee said. “If it doesn’t do so, we will judge that it has no self-purification ability and appoint a governing body to remove all of its board members or take a special measure to cut the whole budget.”

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]