Ministry begins probe into badminton body

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Monday it is kicking off an inspection of the Badminton Korea Association, following claims of irregularities made by Olympic gold medalist An Se-young.

Immediately after she won the gold in the women's singles event in Paris, An suggested that the national team "did not take her injury seriously."

Her comment sparked suspicion that she had been forced to play through an injury that had been ailing her since last year. She also alleged that singles players like her are forced to go through identical training to doubles players, despite the differences in the respective disciplines.

"(The ministry) will review issues raised by An's interview, such as inadequate management of injuries, training programs focused on doubles and suspicion of forcing players to participate in sports events," the ministry said in a press release.

"We will also conduct a comprehensive examination on (the association's) systems, budget spending, and overall operations that have been subject to controversy."

The government plans to interview members of the BKA and the national team, alongside on-site inspections and expert consultation. The results of the investigation will be announced in September.

Lee Jung-woo, chief of the ministry's sports bureau, will oversee the inspection.

The focus of the inspection will be on the fairness of the national team's player selection process, the effectiveness of the association's financial and other support, and the players' salary and welfare.

Gold medalist criticizes badminton association

An's claims raised uproar, as they implied incompetence on the part of the badminton association. According to An, the national team failed to properly manage the knee injury she sustained at last year's Hangzhou Asian Games, forcing her to participate in international competitions afterward.

The BKA last week rejected An's claims, saying the association had never forced her to participate in any event.

After a five-week rehabilitation following An's return to Korea, she participated in the 2023 Japan Masters and 2023 China Masters in November "due to her own strong will," the association said.

It also claimed to have provided her with a personal trainer since February and a doctor of Koran medicine to Paris, spending over 11 million won ($8,000) on her treatment. On the recent report that An was disappointed that her trainer did not accompany her to the French capital, the BKA said the trainer refused to renew her contract.

The association also said that it did not upgrade her plane seat to business class because it would be unfair to the other athletes.

But the BKA's explanation left many unsatisfied.

It was recently reported that An's club team -- Samsung Life Insurance -- gave the association the money to have her airplane seat upgraded, but the BKA still refused to do so. It was also revealed recently that BKA executives flew business class while the players flew coach, to which the association said the members who used business class did so using their own money.

Many also raised questions about how much the BKA actually did for An’s injury, as local media outlet SBS on Friday reported -- citing an anonymous official of the BKA -- that the association was not involved in An's treatment of her injury in Paris.

What does the future hold for An?

The badminton association said it will be unlikely that it would allow An to participate in the WBF-authorized international competitions if she decides to leave the national team. As a member of the WBF, the KBA has the right to decide whether to authorize any South Korean player wishing to participate in WBF events.

“If a regulation is ignored, there can be substantial concern over possibility of (other) national team athletes leaving. This would make it difficult (for us) to operate the national team,” it said.

BKA's regulation has a clause concerning which athletes it will authorize to participate in international competitions, after their retirement from the national team -- which will also be subject to the ministry's ongoing investigation.

The regulation states that of these players, only those who have been a member of the national team for at least five years and have reached a certain age -- 27 for women and 28 for men -- and “have contributed a lot to the advancement of Korea’s badminton” can be authorized by the BKA to participate in the events. An, who turned 22, will not make the age limit until February of 2029, and she still would have to be authorized by the association.

An, after winning the country’s first badminton singles title in nearly three decades, said that it "might be difficult to go on with the national team after this point."

She later denied that it implied her pending retirement, but the athlete did say that it would be "too cruel to the player to be banned from competing in the Olympics, just because (he or she) left the national team."

He comment pointed to the possibility of her competing in the 2028 Olympics without being a member of the national team.

No Korean badminton player has ever represented the country in the Olympics without going through the national team selection process. To do so, the player has to gain points by participating in BWF-certified events, but participation is impossible without BKA authorization.

This means An cannot participate in major international events for years if she retires from the national team. An exception can be granted under special request from the national team, which is not likely if she and the association remain at loggerheads.