Securing players is a priority over professionalization, and Yang Myung-seok, president-elect of the Women's Livestock Federation, a country where any young girl can play soccer, is an Ilsung (on-site interview)
Feb 06, 2025
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Yang Myung-seok (57), former president of the Daegu Football Association, who was elected as the new chairman of the 9th Korean Women's Football Association, expressed his determination for the change and development of women's soccer in Korea.
Former President Yang won the re-election and final round of the 9th Korean Women's Football Association at the Coreana Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 6th, winning 80 votes and 37 out of 70 valid votes. Former chairman Yang won 34 votes and the most votes in the first round of voting, which was joined by Kwon Jong-chul (61), former head of FIFA Sports, and Jung Hae-sung (66), former chairman of the Korea Football Association's power reinforcement committee, but fell three votes short of the "principle of winning the majority of votes". With candidate Kwon Jong-chul receiving 27 votes and candidate Jung Hae-sung 12 votes, the 1-2nd-place final between Yang and Kwon for 'over-the-top votes' has begun.
In the re-election, which was also the 49th anniversary of the deceased, the former chairman Oh Kyu-sang, who led the federation for 17 years, died of a worsening chronic disease late last year after he was confirmed to serve as the ninth chairman. The first round of voting took place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. A method in which a majority of valid votes are elected, and a second round of final voting is held when there is no majority vote. The votes of the women's soccer scene were focused on former president Yang, who has been consistently sincere for the women's soccer community over the past decade. He was elected as the 9th president of the Korean Women's Football Federation, winning the most votes in the first round, 37 votes, four votes ahead of candidate Kwon Jong-chul in the second round.
President-elect Yang Myung-seok, who will lead the future of women's soccer for four years until February 2029, is a businessman-turned-football administrator. After establishing a relationship with the soccer community as a director of the Jaejoong Football Association, he served as the president of the Dalseong-gun Football Association and the president of the Daegu Football Association. Due to his relationship with the late chairman Oh Kyu-sang, he has been interested in women's soccer for more than a decade through personal support for Yoo Girl. ▶ Implementation of a project to foster girls' soccer ▶ Separate operation of women's college leagues (U-League) ▶ Expand WK League and increase budget ▶ Strengthen marketing and expand broadcasting rights ▶ Improve the environment of the stadium ▶ Expand programs to train female leaders and increase professional courses for international referees and increase allowances ▶ Support for scholarships for women's soccer students ▶ Expanding and supporting opportunities to participate in international competitions.
President-elect Yang said, `After winning the election, I feel a heavier responsibility. Candidate Jung Hae-sung and Kwon Jong-chul, who competed together, are both excellent and respected people. I will work hard to develop women's soccer by communicating with them" expressed his feelings. "Since 10 years ago, I have communicated by attending the women's soccer field and meeting U-girl players and leaders. The biggest problem with women's soccer is that it is difficult to find elementary school players. If elementary schools fall, secondary, high, college, and unemployment cannot develop. I want to provide an opportunity for young girls to enter soccer happily"He expressed his willingness to focus on You Girl's soccer and school sports policies." "We will also improve the environment of the competition." I saw and felt the reality that female athletes were changing in the bathroom of the stadium. It will definitely improve. The treatment of the leader is also poor. It is also inconvenient for students and parents who commute for four hours to play soccer. I will improve this in consultation with the Ministry of Education and the Korea Sports Council."
As a secret to winning the election, President-elect Yang cited communication with the field. "The reason why I ran for re-election was that after Chairman Oh Kyu-sang passed away, I hope some leaders will come and take charge of it." I thought a lot about it. While serving as the president of the Daegu Football Association, he has operated the association transparently by communicating and disclosing everything, but the women's league is different from the local association. I thought it was a heavy position for me, but he did well when he was the president of Daegu. Don't be afraid and do it with your conviction, I don't want much. He encouraged me. As the leaders supported me, I came up with the idea that even if I don't get elected, I hope it will be an opportunity to run and express my belief, and now I will work hard for women's soccer together."
Regarding the professionalization of the WK League, it promised phased, realistic and structural improvements. "There are currently eight teams in the league, including Sangmu. Production is good, of course, but in order to approach professionalization realistically, the number of teams needs to be increased by more than 10. It is not easy to solve the problem of a new team within a year or two." "There were 70 high school graduates who went to college last year. There are eight teams in the university and a university that failed to recruit 11 people. Then, participation in the college league is unclear. It is impossible to increase the number of WK League teams when there are no players. "You have to come up with a thick layer of players from the bottom. Increasing the number of teams is not an urgent priority, but sound management is neededPlease wait. If you wait, I'll make it with my family"Then "I'm young. I'm motivated. I promise to work hard at it.," he said emphatically.
Regarding the operation of the secretariat of the Women's Football Federation, which has a poor structure with three to four employees working hard, President-elect Yang also said, "I saw the federation from the outside while attending the women's soccer field for 10 years. When I take office, I will check the internal housekeeping and organization first. There is a lot of lack of communication from the federation secretariat. When I take office, I will open up the process and results of all competitions and create an association to communicate"I promised.
He also made it clear that he would cooperate with the president-elect of the Korea Sports Council, Kim Yoo Seung Min, for the development of youth soccer. "President-elect Yoo also said school sports should be saved." Women's soccer belongs to an unpopular sport and as the president of the federation, I will actively cooperate with the Korea Football Association and the Korea Sports Association. The policy of revitalizing women's sports and women's soccer by the Korea Sports Association is in line with us. He also met with Yoo. I think we can revitalize school sports together."
On this day, he delivered a message of development of women's soccer in Korea to the late chairman Oh Kyu-sang, who was 49 times. "Today is the voting day, so I couldn't go to 49th place. Chairman Oh is a person who made a mark on women's soccer and grew up. In accordance with his will, he vowed to finish his unashamed term by growing it not more stagnant than it is now, expanding it further, and substantially."
Reporter Jeon Young-ji sky4us@sportschosun.com
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
