Source: Visual China Group/Zheng Hongliang/VCG
[Saba Sports News] According to South Korean media, the request made by An Se-young, the gold medalist in women’s singles badminton at the Paris Olympics, is about to be realized, allowing non-national badminton players to participate in international competitions. The South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on December 30 last year that it had ordered relevant institutions to take follow-up actions in response to the findings released by the Korea Badminton Association on October 31. Among these actions is the cancellation of regulations that only allowed non-national players who have completed five years on the national team and reached a certain age to participate in international competitions. Additionally, the restrictions on national team players participating in overseas leagues and invitation tournaments have also been lifted. Other follow-up measures include addressing restrictions on sponsorship logos on player jerseys, reflecting player opinions as much as possible during outings or stays, and selecting association sponsors through bidding announcements. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will begin recovering funds violating subsidy laws and implement additional sanctions starting from early January this year. The policy’s official stated that the Korea Badminton Association has made significant improvements in protecting athletes’ rights and will continue to check if outstanding issues are properly addressed.