Ahn Se-young “Release personal sponsors…athletes should enjoy economic compensation”


“I think badminton can be financially rewarding enough without advertising. I would like to see more sponsors and contracts released, not less.”

Ahn finally spoke up. After winning the gold medal in the women’s singles final at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on May 5, she said, “I was disappointed that the national team was too complacent when I was seriously injured. I felt that it was hard for me to go with the national team anymore,” she said, six days after winning the gold medal.

Ahn’s comments made waves at the time. The Olympic fever that had been raging after her surprise gold medal victory cooled down. The Korea Badminton Association responded by distributing materials that refuted each of Ahn’s comments, but public criticism was fierce. The Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism said it would “identify the exact facts,” and the Korea Sports Federation promised to “form an investigation committee to comprehensively identify the problem.”

In an interview with Yonhap News Agency on Nov. 11, Ahn did not discuss injury management or the management of the squad. Instead, she said, “Athletes should be able to enjoy fair compensation financially.” “Personal sponsors and contracts can motivate players, not discriminate against them,” she said, adding, “I think it would be reverse discrimination if all players were treated the same.”

Ahn pointed out that the current regulations regarding personal sponsorship of national athletes and salaries and contracts for unemployed athletes need to be improved.

In fact, the salaries are low compared to other popular sports. The Korea Unemployed Badminton Federation’s ‘Player Contract Management Regulation’ specifically limits the contract period, contract fee, and annual salary for rookies. Rookie high school graduates can only sign contracts for seven years, with a maximum of 100 million won, and the first year’s salary cannot exceed 50 million won. Ahn Se-young is one of the world’s best and most popular players.

According to the national team rules, players must use rackets, shoes, and clothing from the main sponsor of the 파워볼실시간 Korea Badminton Association. The moment you wear the Korean flag, there”s less room for personal sponsorship and you”re tied to the federation or the Korean Sports Federation.

The Korea Badminton Association currently has a sponsorship deal with Yonex worth more than $4 billion a year. With this money, they send their junior and adult national teams to dozens of tournaments a year to strengthen their international competitiveness. It costs nearly 3 billion won to systematically develop a player from childhood. This system has allowed Ahn to compete on the international stage for years without any financial burden.

As a result, the current national team system binds badminton players like Ahn to many regulations. This can lead to a sense of psychological deprivation compared to other sports stars who are paid less for their popularity and have multimillion-dollar sponsorship deals.

However, many in the badminton community are concerned that this could have a major impact on the entire national team. This is because it could shake the Korean badminton development system. “I feel sorry for Ahn Se-young, but it’s hard to change the whole system for one person,” said a badminton official.

While there is no clear solution in sight, Ahn’s comments have raised the need for change. There is a growing consensus that changes are needed to ensure that world-class athletes like Ahn receive the compensation they deserve while maintaining the organized system of management and development that has been in place for a long time. Instead of fighting and conflict, the common opinion is that it is time for the federation, athletes, and officials to put their heads together and have a ‘win-win’ dialog.


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