[News UP] Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism responds to 'Anthogong'...Sponsors will be forced and restricted from participating in the event.

■ Host: Cho Jin-hyuk Anchor
■ Starring: Choi Dong-ho Sports Critic

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information. Please specify [YTN News UP] when quoting.

[Anchor]
We will continue with the news of the interim announcement of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's Badminton Association investigation. Let's analyze the contents of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's presentation in detail with experts. Choi Dong-ho, sports critic, is connected. Critic, are you out?

[Choi Dongho]
Hello.

[Anchor]
It seems that the intensity of the government's investigation was higher than expected. Even though it was an interim announcement, there were many clear statements that "we will fix and change it." What did you see as the biggest change?

[Choi Dongho]
First of all, it can be seen as a kind of shock that the irregularities of the Badminton Association executives have been confirmed. But the biggest change is that we will also allow athletes to participate in international competitions as individuals and receive sponsorship as individuals. If you look at the announcement by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism yesterday, you can feel that you have decided to investigate the Badminton Association.

While investigating overseas cases in detail, I suggested directions for improvement to the Badminton Association, and the most important thing is that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said it will investigate not only the Badminton Association but also other sports organizations, assuming that similar cases will occur in other sports organizations. I think it is in the same vein as the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Yoo In-chon said that now is the right time for sports reform.

[Anchor]
It seems that there will be more repercussions in the sports world in the future, but I will point it out one by one. Changes were also predicted in the equipment used by the players. You recommended that players use items that have a big impact on their performance, such as rackets and shoes, freely, right?

[Choi Dongho]
That's right. In particular, the game products used by players affect their performance a lot. Representatively, in the case of shoes, even ordinary people, not athletes, wear shoes that do not fit their feet, so they are very uncomfortable and tired. I don't think there's any need to mention the importance of shoes that players wear when playing.

Moreover, because badminton repeats steps and turns while moving at a high speed in a narrow court, shoes that do not fit your feet can also lead to ankle and knee injuries. I think it's right to get sponsorship as an individual because it's directly related to racquets, shoes, and players' performance. I think it's right to organize the uniforms so that they can be solved with the support of the association.

[Anchor]
As you said, the problem of personal sponsorship restrictions can be solved. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has decided to come up with an alternative. How do you think this will change?

[Choi Dongho]
In other sports, including table tennis, personal sponsorship has already been released so that racquets and shoes can be personally supported by players. Uniforms are solved with the sponsorship of the association, and I think we need guides and standards for this kind of problem.

In the wake of Ahn Se-young's remarks in badminton, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism appropriately presents a guide and accepts it, and if the badminton plan is confirmed, the new rules on personal sponsorship of athletes in badminton can become a standard in the sports world. Personal sponsorship means a lot, for example in swimming, Park already experienced similar conflicts early on.

Park Tae-hwan once solved the personal sponsorship problem in swimming. The issue of personal sponsorship can be seen as meaningful in that relationship adjustments between the association and individuals are newly made with the emergence of large stars. I think the revision of the Badminton Association has become a kind of standard and can be applied to all other sports.

[Anchor]
In the future, it seems that it will be possible for players to use the supplies freely and receive sponsorship here. And there is also a part where Ahn Se-young complained that she suffered from being the youngest for seven years, what was mentioned about this part?

[Choi Dongho]
Ahn Se-young has been selected as a member of the national team since she was a third grader in middle school. He said he washed and cleaned the seniors every time he trained for the national team for 7 years from then on. The problem of taking care of your seniors is not just about badminton.

It can be seen as a backward culture in the sports world as a whole, but it is a violation of human rights and is quite inefficient in training. Therefore, this backward sports culture has already been pointed out as a human rights violation for a long time. I've been asked to improve. First of all, I want to say that the sports world is still improving. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has also said that it will improve. Since there are many people who sympathize with this problem in the sports world, it is a problem that needs to be improved, and I think it can be changed if efforts to improve continue.

[Anchor]
And Ahn Se-young's sharpest confrontation with the association was about injury management, and it seems that the investigation was not that deep.

[Choi Dongho]
That's right. Ahn Se-young was injured at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year. I received medical treatment right after that, and the initial treatment revealed that there was a misdiagnosis. And I said that the injury management was not done properly, but there was no separate mention of the injury management in the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's announcement yesterday.

Since the part related to misdiagnosis is a professional medical field, it may take time or controversy to confirm that it is a misdiagnosis. In terms of injury management, there may be some difference between Ahn Se-young's level of demand for injury management and what the association can handle, but seeing that the injury management part was omitted from yesterday's announcement by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, I think we have not found anything particularly problematic in injury management.

[Anchor]
I'll also ask you a question about the sports world in general. Commissioner Jin Jong-oh is receiving reports of irregularities in the sports community, and I heard that more than 70 cases have already been received at the center.

[Choi Dongho]
That's right. In the wake of Ahn Se-young's remarks, Rep. Jin Jong-oh, a member of the People's Power, also opened a public reporting center for corruption in the sports community, and was informed of corruption. It said about 70 cases have already been received. Typically, the Shooting Federation has yet to pay rewards to medal winners at the Paris Olympics, but union officials have raised suspicions about sharing bonuses.

If this is confirmed to be true, it could be considered a moral breakdown. Separately, this suspicion was raised that wrestlers were forced to participate as track and field athletes in Gangwon-do at the National Sports Festival. About 70 cases of corruption are cases of human rights violations and unfairness in which similar cases have continued to occur. All of these reports received by Rep. Jin Jong-oh of People's Power
are true about the suspicions.I would like to tell you that we need to cover up and reveal whether we are responsible or not.

[Anchor]
Many changes in the sports world are expected, but on the other hand, there are self-deprecating criticisms that only a medalist can hear such a voice. Do you have anything to say about the self-purification effect within the sports world?

[Choi Dongho]
If the sports community had the ability to self-purify, I don't think such reports or Ahn Se-young's badminton association would have been made because they had already improved a lot. There have been many accidents in the sports world since about 10 years ago.

There have also been serious human rights violations and calls for improvement and reform, but this is still repeated, so we can't help but seriously doubt the self-purification ability of the sports community. In this sense, sports ethics centers have been established outside the sports community and many systems have been created, but I think it can be changed only when the sports community continues to pay attention and demands reform.

[Anchor]
I see. Let's stop here. So far, I've been with sports critic Choi Dong-ho. Thank you.