An Se-young's Damage Claim Explained as 'Long-standing Custom'
Association: "Will Discuss System Improvement and Development Plans"
An Se-young, who won the gold medal as the national representative in women's singles badminton at the Paris Olympics, has publicly expressed dissatisfaction with the Badminton Korea Association, and the association is launching an investigation into An Se-young's remarks. An Se-young claims that she has suffered while taking on miscellaneous tasks such as cleaning and laundry for the national team over the past seven years.
An Se-young, who won the gold medal in women's singles badminton representing South Korea at the Paris Olympics, has publicly expressed dissatisfaction with the Badminton Korea Association, and the association is launching a fact-finding investigation into An Se-young's remarks. [Photo by Seo Dong-min, Asia Economy]
On the 15th, the Badminton Korea Association announced, "Regarding the interview content of player An Se-young during the 2024 Paris Olympics, the association's internal fact-finding committee will hold a closed meeting on the 16th." The fact-finding committee consists of five members in total. Among them, three are external members, including two lawyers and one professor. The two internal members include Lee Sang-soon, chairman of the Sports Human Rights Committee of the association, and auditor Park Gye-ok. The Badminton Korea Association stated, "The fact-finding committee will investigate injury management of the national team players, tournament participation systems, training systems, and management regulations," adding, "They plan to discuss system improvements and ways to develop badminton domestically."
Earlier, on the 5th, after winning the women's singles gold medal at the Paris Olympics, An Se-young openly criticized the Badminton Korea Association. She said, "My injury was more serious than expected, and I was greatly disappointed by the national team’s complacency," adding, "At this moment, I also thought it might be difficult to continue with the national team." Furthermore, An Se-young claimed that she had been responsible for laundry and cleaning for the national team for the past seven years.
An Se-young was first selected for the national team in 2017 when she was in the third year of middle school. Since then, she has practically been in charge of replacing broken racket strings of senior players, cleaning rooms, and doing laundry. It is reported that An Se-young’s parents met with association officials in February to deliver seven demands, including improvements to living conditions at the national team dormitory. They claim that she has suffered due to these miscellaneous tasks when she needed rest and recovery. However, the national team coaching staff responded that since this is an old "custom," the problem cannot be solved immediately but will be gradually corrected.
Meanwhile, An Se-young has decided to withdraw from all international tournaments scheduled for this month. On the 12th, An Se-young conveyed her intention to withdraw from these tournaments to the Badminton Korea Association through her team, Samsung Life. The tournaments she will miss are the BWF World Tour Super 750 Japan Open and the Super 500 Korea Open. Originally, An Se-young was scheduled to compete in both tournaments as the defending champion. The reason for her withdrawal is knee and ankle injuries. An Se-young sustained a right knee injury during the final of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games last year. She also injured ankle ligaments during the pre-camp for the Paris Olympics. Nevertheless, An Se-young showed fighting spirit at the Olympics and ultimately won the gold medal in women's singles badminton.
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