“Who will fire me? The Sports Fair Trade Commission?” Kim Taek-gyu, president of the Badminton Association, is ‘convinced’ despite the dam burst charges

(MHN Sports Reporter Kwon Soo-yeon) Kim Taek-gyu, president of the Korea Badminton Association, who has been at the center of various suspicions of breach of trust and administrative irregularities, directly expressed his refusal to resign.

On the 31st of last month, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (hereinafter referred to as the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) announced in an official report, “We have requested an investigation into Songpa Police Station regarding suspicions of breach of trust by the Badminton Association.”

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will have a subsidy recovery procedure for violations of subsidies, such as paying compensation to some executives in violation of the association’s articles of incorporation. They demanded that Chairman Kim Taek-gyu, who was directly responsible, be dismissed, and that the Secretary General be severely punished.

The Badminton Association is accused of designating supplies from a company where an association executive works as an official ball despite the fact that the company’s supplies are grounds for exclusion.

The various absurdities of the Badminton Association were exposed to the world due to the revelations of Korean badminton leader Ahn Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance).

Ahn Se-young revealed her conflict with the Badminton Association immediately after winning the women’s badminton singles event at the 2024 Paris Olympics last August.

Due to Ahn Se-young’s remarks, the Badminton Association’s sloppy work management, internal absurdities such as having juniors do chores, as well as the age limit regulations were revealed to the public. Also, during this process, Ahn Se-young complained about the discomfort of the sponsor’s shoes, and suggested wearing shoes from other companies several times, but this was not accepted.

Afterwards, the proposal was raised to the National Assembly inquiry. Min Hyeong-bae, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, also released a photo of Ahn Se-young’s blistered feet.

Accordingly, the Badminton Association only allowed Ahn Se-young to wear ‘limited and exceptional’ shoes from other brands at the Denmark Open last month, but Ahn Se-young refused exclusive privileges and entered the competition wearing existing shoes.

In addition, the Badminton Association continued to ignite controversy as suspicions of Chairman Kim Taek-gyu’s ‘payback’ surfaced. It was revealed that last year, Chairman Kim Taek-gyu, together with the chairman of the public offering promotion committee, verbally entered into a contract to provide sponsorship items without the knowledge of the association’s employees when purchasing items, and received items worth 150 million won, including shuttlecocks and rackets.

In addition, it was confirmed that this year, the president and the association secretariat took the lead and signed a written contract to receive sponsorship items worth approximately 140 million won from the sponsor.

In addition, various absurd corruptions were revealed following an investigation by the National Assembly Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee.

According to an investigation by People Power Party lawmaker Jeong Yeon-wook, a member of the Culture and Sports Committee, the Badminton Association unilaterally abolished the 20% sponsorship and bonuses allocated to the national team and distributed them to executives, while some executives violated regulations and received separate incentives. It appears that he also went. It was also revealed that sponsors’ products were purchased using government subsidies and executives received sales performance bonuses.

In addition, it was revealed that the association recently mobilized players to promote sponsors for free without seeking their consent.

However, Kim Taek-gyu, the head of the Badminton Association, made it clear that he had no intention of being dismissed. In a phone call with KBS on the 31st of last month, Chairman Kim Taek-gyu said, “Who will do the dismissal?” and “Can the Korea Sports Fair Association fire me? I ask if they can dismiss me. Please check and call me with the correct procedure. I am eating right now. ” he asked.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism threatened to take special measures, such as suspending the budget and designating a management organization, if the request for correction is not properly implemented, saying, “We are giving the Badminton Association a last chance.”

Photo = Yonhap News, Representative Min Hyeong-bae’s office, Yonex Korea