"Already 8 to 1" The election for the chairman of the Korea Sports Council is this hot? 'What is the direction of the 'small group challenge X anti-Lee Ki-heung solidarity'→ Li'30% concrete votes'?

Dec 01, 2024

(clockwise from top left) Lee Ki-heung, president of the Korea Table Tennis Association-former IOC member Kang Shin-wook, Dankook University Honorary Professor Kang Tae-sun, former Incheon Mayor Ahn Sang-soo, former president of the Korea Sepak Takraw Association Oh Chang-beom, former president of the Gangwon Provincial Sports Association Kim Yong-joo.

This time again, it's a match between 'Lee Ki-heung vs. anti-Lee Ki-heung'.

In December, the election fever for the 42nd president of the Korea Sports Council is heating up in earnest. So far, eight people have expressed their intention to run, including Lee Ki-heung (69), former chairman of the Korea Sports Association, Yoo Seung Min (42), honorary professor Kang Shin-wook (69), Dankook University professor Kang Tae-sun (75), former secretary-general of the Gangwon Provincial Sports Association, Kim Yong-joo (63), former president of the Korea Wushu Association, Park Chang-beom (55), former Incheon Mayor Ahn Sang-soo (78), and Oh Joo-young (39), former president of the Korea Sepak Takraw Association. As December 24-25 is the registration period for candidates, more candidates may come out or candidates may withdraw their candidacy, but they have reserved the highest competition rate among the previous elections for the president of the Korea Sports Council.

Chairman Lee, who was the vice chairman of the first integrated sports committee in 2016, former president of the Korea Sports Association Jeon Byung-kwan (Professor Kyung Hee University), Dankook University President Jang Ho-sung, former National Assembly member Lee A-lisa, and former Democratic Peace Advisory Committee member Jang Jung-soo came forward. In the 2020 election, former Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Jong-gul, Dankook University professor Kang Shin-wook, and former KoreaThe president of the association showed a competition ratio of 4 to 1 as he tried to block Chairman Lee from serving a second term.

Chairman Lee Ki-heung, who has been in conflict with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for more than a year, faced a crisis as he was embroiled in public criticism due to controversy over the reduction of the ceremony for the Paris Olympics and badminton star Ahn Se-young's decisive remarks' is a situation in which a sense of crisis has taken hold. Sports leaders who pledged to reform sports under the banner of `Ban Ki-heung' are continuing to announce their candidacy.

Former Chairman Yoo Seung Min who announced his candidacy for the President of the Korea Sports Council

Oh Joo-young, president of the Korea Sepak Takraw Association.

The fact that most of the candidates put forward `anti-Lee Ki-heung' is no different from the past two elections, but it is quite different from the past in that a new era, innovative candidates in their 30s and 50s 'young leadership', and young sportsmen with experience in sports administration have come to the fore. Former IOC member Park Chang-beom, who was on a hunger strike in 1982 with a slogan of 「Athene Table Tennis Gold Medalist」, who resigned as president of the Korea Table Tennis Association in early September immediately after the Paris Olympics, was born in 1982, and Oh Joo-young, president of the Korea Sepak Takraw Association, who officially announced his candidacy on the 29th, was born in 1985, the youngest of the previous full-time sports heads.

Kim Yong-joo, former secretary-general of the Gangwon Provincial Sports Council.

Professor Kang Shin-wook of Dankook University who visited former Wushu Association President Park Chang-beom's fasting farm growth.

Kang Tae-sun, chairman of the Seoul Metropolitan Sports Council, visited the fasting farm growth of Park Chang-beom, former chairman of the Wushu Association.

Former Incheon Mayor Ahn Sang-soo visited the hunger strike of former Wushu Association President Park Chang-beom.

Solidarity between candidates anti-Lee Ki-heung against Chairman Lee Ki-heung's third consecutive term is also underway earlier than in the past. Professor Kang Shin-wook of Dankook University, Kang Tae-sun, chairman of the Seoul Sports Council for the Disabled, and Ahn Sang-soo, former mayor of Incheon, visited Park Chang-beom, former chairman of the Wushu Association, to express sympathy and support, and Yoo Seung Min, president of the Korea Table Tennis Association, is expected to visit the site soon. Of course, 'opposition to Lee's third consecutive term' and the unification of candidates are completely different issues. In the midst of a flurry of candidates, each candidate in each election insists on "self-unification around"'I', which never led to unification.

In the case of Chairman Lee, as is well known, he toured the local sports association dozens of times during his term, and the so-called 'concrete support layer' in the 30% range is still solid. Even if there are some cracks, it is undeniable that he is still the most likely candidate when running in the midst of a flurry of candidates. Despite public criticism of the sports community, the president's message calling for improved old practices, the Cabinet Office, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the prosecution and the police, and the pressure to investigate the relay, Chairman Lee is holding out because there is a `30% trust.' He was elected with 294 votes out of 892 votes in 2016, 32.9% of the votes, and 915 votes out of 1974 and 46.4% of the votes when re-elected in 2024. It is expected that even if there are more votes against it, the structure of being elected in the end, and the gathering of absolute supporters could be more solid amid the crisis of a lifetime.

Lee Ki-heung, chairman of the Korea Sports Council, answering questions

After all, it's the choice of 'Voters' athletes. Chairman Lee has overcome numerous crises, including the sexual violence incident in the skating world before and after the PyeongChang Olympics and the late Choi Sook-hyun incident, and won re-election with overwhelming support for the sports world. Prosecutors and police are investigating and investigating allegations of hiring irregularities, irregularities in private contracts, embezzlement and breach of trust, and the Ministry of Culture has notified the suspension of his duties, and even if he is elected, he has already delivered a message that approval is impossible. Employees of the Korea Sports Association, which criticized Chairman Lee through the anonymous app Blind and in-house bulletin boards, are said to have prepared for the appointment of the chairman. Even after the election of the chairman, there is a high possibility that confusion will continue for a considerable period of time inside and outside. In this atmosphere, it is of keen interest whether 33% of sportspeople will prove the myth that the chairman is Lee Ki-heung anyway.

In the first week of December, candidates for the president of the Korea Sports Council will follow. Professor Kang Shin-wook and Chairman Kang Tae-sun, who have already finished a press conference for their candidacy, are actively promoting online and offline, while Yoo Seung Min, former president of the Korea Table Tennis Association, will hold a press conference at the Plaza Hotel in Seoul at 10 a.m. on the 3rd and officially announce his candidacy. In addition, the interrogation date for Chairman Lee Ki-heung's request for an injunction for suspension of execution in connection with the suspension of his duties to the Seoul Administrative Court is scheduled for the 2nd. After the results of the provisional interrogation are released, the timing of the announcement of the candidacy is expected to be adjusted.

sky4us@sportschosun.com