181 K League Players Promise Life-Sharing Organ Donation

K League Saengmyeongnanum Player Team Conducting Touring Education

A total of 181 professional K League soccer players have pledged to donate their organs.

On the 12th, the Korea Professional Football League announced that 181 players pledged organ donation during the K League Life Sharing Player Team Touring Education, held in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s National Organ, Tissue and Blood Management Agency.

The K League Life Sharing Player Team Touring Education is part of a life-sharing campaign initiated by the league in 2016. It is an educational program conducted by visiting player teams to help K League players and staff understand the necessity of organ and tissue donation and to encourage their direct participation. This education program, first implemented in 2019, resumed in June this year after a five-year hiatus.

Incheon United Life Sharing Team Touring Education.
[Image provided by Korea Professional Football Federation]

So far this year, the touring education has been conducted for 14 of the 25 K League clubs, including Gimpo, Daegu, Suwon, Incheon, Jeju, Chungnam Asan, and Pohang.

During the touring education, the importance of registering as an organ donor is introduced, and registration applications are accepted only from players who wish to donate organs and tissues. In 2019, 170 out of 832 K League players applied, recording a registration rate of about 20%. However, this year, with about half of the education sessions completed, 181 players have already applied, surpassing the number of registered players in 2019.

Notably, Jeju showed the highest organ and tissue donation registration rate, with about 60% of the entire player team participating in the pledge. Anyang had the highest number of new registrations, with 14 players and 4 coaching staff completing their donor registration.

Lee Sam-yeol, Director of the Korea Organ and Tissue Donation Agency, said, “We are grateful to the K League players and staff who continue to run with hearts that do not tire even in the hot summer, joining us in spreading the culture of life sharing. Life sharing is a hope for about 45,000 transplant waiters, and since the number of transplant waiters steadily increases by about 3,000 each year, it is an important social issue that requires the attention of the public. We ask for much interest and participation in life sharing.”