'Fiscal consolidation issue'Gwangju FC can recruit quasi-professional players'Approved by the Finance Committee of the Professional Football Federation'
Jul 28, 2024
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A soccer official recently said through Sports Chosun, 'Gwangju, which was unable to recruit players during the additional registration period due to financial soundness problems, will be able to recruit semi-professional players. As Jun-pro is actually an amateur, he can now be recruited regardless of his professional contract,' he hinted. An official from the Gwangju club also said 'Recently, the Finance Committee of the Korea Professional Football Federation approved the recruitment of semi-professional players' he said.
Gwangju was at its worst. He was disciplined for violating the fiscal consolidation system. The Professional Football Federation established a fiscal consolidation system in 2023. It has been implemented in earnest since this year. The Finance Committee judged that Gwangju submitted a budget bill that overestimated its profits after reviewing the current budget earlier this year. The recruitment of players during the additional registration period (June 20 to July 31) was prohibited until the club's actual income rose to the level stated in the budget. Gwangju has to come up with a plan to pass the financial regulations to recruit players during the additional registration period.
Gwangju has achieved successive achievements, including winning the K League 2 in 2022, advancing to the K League 1 Final A in 2023, and the Asian Champions League (ACL) in the 2024-2025 season due to sanctions imposed by the Professional Football League. Club and team operating expenses also increased by 152% over the past two years. The budget increase is also inevitable as our club is pushing for a leap forward with a new spirit of challenge. In February, he explained the club's business activities to the finance committee. In consultation with the team, the team has already completed the formation of the team (33 → 39) in preparation for the participation in the ACL. We are currently doing our best to continue the operation of the club by preparing various measures for fiscal consolidation, he explained.
Nothing changed. Gwangju failed to recruit a single player in the summer transfer market. Rather, he lost Um Ji-sung (Swansea City) and Park Han-bin (Gyeongnam FC). Gwangju will play not only the K-League but also the ACL this season. I have a lot of difficulties in composition of the squad. In this situation, a ray of hope arose. Junpro is now able to register additionally. Related discussions have been held since early July, and it is said that the final approval was made by holding a recent finance committee. However, there is also a cap on recruiting Gwangju as a semi-professional, which is struggling with financial problems. Um Ji-sung and Park Han-bin, who recently left the team, will be able to fill only the existing salary.
epi17@sportschosun.com
