"Did Not Even Pay Appearance Fee"... Badminton Association Used An Se-young in Sponsor Ads Without Consent

Jeong Yeon-wook Lawmaker "Using National Athletes for Association's Profit"

The Badminton Korea Association has been accused of repeatedly mobilizing its affiliated athletes, including 2024 Paris Olympic gold medalist An Se-young, as unpaid advertising models for sponsors. There was no procedure to obtain the athletes' consent.

[Photo by Yonhap News]

On the 24th, Jeong Yeon-wook, a member of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee from the People Power Party, stated in a press release that the Badminton Association signed a sponsorship contract with Yonex last year, promising "14 days of unpaid promotional appearances by affiliated athletes." Based on this contract, the association mobilized athletes for photo shoots, advertisements, and promotional events without considering the athletes' schedules, Jeong pointed out.

In fact, An Se-young participated in three photo shoots during the World Championships in May last year and took part in sponsor promotional events after the Japan Open, being mobilized for advertising shoots and promotional events six times over the course of a year. Additionally, 20 athletes who participated in last year's Hangzhou Asian Games and 11 athletes competing in this year's Paris Olympics were also found to have appeared unpaid in promotional advertisements for the sponsor Yonex.

Not only national representatives but also promising players under the age of 13 were mobilized for sponsor promotions without any procedure to obtain their consent. None of them received appearance fees.

In response, the Badminton Association reportedly stated in a written reply that "the Badminton Association's national team operation guidelines are applied," and that there are internal provisions within the association, so the unpaid appearances are not considered as such.

However, the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee told Jeong Yeon-wook's office that "there is no regulation from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) or the Sport & Olympic Committee requiring athletes to appear as unpaid models," and that "(advertising appearances) are conducted through individual contracts between sponsors and athletes." Earlier, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the relevant department, also stated in a mid-term briefing on the investigation of the Badminton Association last September that "(unpaid appearances under sponsorship contracts) are unrelated to national team support and are not reasons to recognize exceptions under the law."

Jeong Yeon-wook demanded, "The association, which should support national representatives, has mobilized them for the association's profit. Athletes are not slaves to be exploited for free by the association. This practice must be improved."