October 18, 2024 (Fri) KBS1 broadcast Ahn Se-young won the gold medal in the women's singles at the 2024 Paris Olympics for the first time in 28 years. The repercussions of her determination statement following the game were huge. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has launched an investigation into the Korea Badminton Association, and the National Assembly is conducting a large-scale state audit of the entire sports world. The sports world is holding its breath and waiting for the state audit and the government's announcement. 《Tracking 60 Minutes》 investigated the unknown poor management practices of some sports organizations under the Korea Sports Council that came to light after Ahn Se-young's determination statement. ■ Gold Medalist's Feet On September 24, a photo of Ahn Se-young's blistered feet was revealed during a National Assembly inquiry. It was a photo she submitted, complaining of pain due to ill-fitting sponsor shoes. Earlier this year, Ahn Se-young's side reportedly met with the association and requested that she wear shoes from a different brand instead of shoes from her sponsor, Company B. On this day, Chairman Kim Taek-gyu responded at the National Assembly that he could not change his shoes because of his contract with the sponsor. The association selects an official sponsor for the national team every four years and attracts sponsorship funds. The association signed a sponsorship contract with Company 'B' in 2023. When the association signed a sponsorship contract with Company 'A' in 2017, the association signed an annual sponsorship contract worth $3.6 million. However, when signing a contract with Company 'B' in April of last year, it signed a contract for a smaller amount of $2.75 million per year. It is said that an official from Company 'A' repeatedly expressed his intention to prepare a contract of similar size to that in 2017. However, the association proceeded with the contract with Company 'B' without a competitive bidding. We will investigate the whole story of the dubious sponsor selection process. ■ Where did the 'Payback' shuttlecock go? Another suspicion of the Korea Badminton Association is the so-called 'Payback controversy'. Last year, the association purchased supplies needed for the promotion and relegation league and youth club league from the sponsor, Company 'B'. In the process, it is said that they received sponsorship items including shuttlecocks worth about 150 million won, which is about 30% of the purchase price, under the pretext of a 'sponsorship contract'. However, this led to a 'payback' controversy. In addition, it is also questionable that they proceeded with a private contract without competitive bidding despite purchasing it with government subsidies. The sponsorship items were delivered to each city and provincial badminton association under the association. It was revealed that 53 million won worth of these items were delivered to the Chungnam Badminton Association, where Chairman Kim Taek-gyu previously served as the association president. Chairman Kim claims that the sponsorship items were distributed considering the participation rates in sports competitions and promotion/relegation leagues. However, Chungnam held 41 out of 243 competitions last year. On the other hand, Gyeongnam, which held the most competitions with 49, received only three towels and one set of clothing. The association claims that the payment was made based on the participation rates of the cities and provinces, including the I-League project. Was it really a fair distribution process? Was it a payback? Is it a sponsorship item? We covered the controversy in depth. ■ The donations from 40 executives are 0 won. The number of executives of the Korea Badminton Association is 40. This is a larger number than the Korea Football Association, which has a budget of 187.6 billion won this year. However, from 2019 to 2023, all donation items of the Badminton Association were counted as '0 won' for five years. Among the associations that produced gold medals at the Paris Olympics, the Korea Badminton Association was the only one whose executives, including the president, did not make donations. The Korea Badminton Association's code of conduct states that "regardless of whether it is in return, money or goods cannot be received from those related to one's job, and one cannot intervene in or influence sponsorships and sponsorships." However, it was revealed that some executives of the association received a total of 68 million won in the name of success compensation (incentives) for attracting sponsors in 2022~2023. The association claims that the marketing regulations stipulate that compensation is provided for attracting sponsors. However, the association has mysteriously deleted the clause on sponsors’ payment of bonuses for the excellent performances of national team athletes. It makes one wonder who the association is run for. Ahn Se-young said, “I wish there was at least one adult who could correct this situation.” When I heard that, I thought that the country should also step up. Interview with a former senior executive of the Korea Badminton Association ■ Did the executive verification and monitoring system work? The president of a sports organization under the Korea Sports Council is given enormous authority and responsibility. Shooting achieved the best Olympic performance ever at the Paris Olympics. However, the shooting team has not yet received the medal bonus. This is because the unprecedented incident of Shin Mo, the president of the Korea Shooting Federation, submitting his resignation letter while the Olympics were in progress occurred. Shin Mo abruptly resigned after it was reported that the hospital he runs was under investigation by the Ministry of Employment and Labor for wage arrears. In an interview with 60 Minutes, an official from the shooting association said that they could not have known about Shin’s wage arrears during the election process. There is a question about whether the selection of the president of the Shooting Federation was thoroughly verified. The budget that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism gave to the Korea Sports Council this year amounts to 410 billion won. The Korea Sports Council distributes the budget it receives to its affiliated sports organizations. Investigative 60 Minutes also conducted an in-depth investigation into the poor accounting audit status of some sports organizations that received taxpayer money. Investigative 60 Minutes Episode 1384, “Tears of an Olympic Gold Medalist,” will air on KBS1 on Friday, October 18 at 10 p.m. Copyright ⓒ KBS. All rights reserved. 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