Ministry of Culture Supports Establishment and Operation of Workplace Sports Teams with a Total of 16.3 Billion Won

Organizations Must Submit Required Documents for Contest Participation by the 22nd

On the 15th, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced that it will open a public contest for organizations to establish and operate workplace sports teams, providing a total support of 16.3 billion KRW. Organizations wishing to participate in the contest must submit the relevant documents to the competent metropolitan local government by 6 p.m. on the 22nd.

The contest is divided into the public sector (metropolitan and basic local governments, local sports councils, public institutions, local public enterprises, etc.) and the private sector (general companies, etc.), with support targets solicited separately for establishment support and operation support.

The establishment support targets are organizations that have newly established or plan to complete the establishment of workplace sports teams or university teams between July 1 of last year and June 30 of this year. Selected organizations can receive up to 300 million KRW for individual sports and up to 500 million KRW for team sports, evenly distributed annually over three years. The support budget can be used for purchasing supplies and equipment necessary for team training, participating in domestic and international competitions, and training camps.

The operation support targets are organizations currently operating workplace sports teams in sports that do not issue sports promotion lottery tickets (excluding football, baseball, basketball, volleyball, and golf). The public sector budget is supported by combining equal distribution (30%) and differential distribution (70%) by city and province. Equal distribution provides the same budget to 16 cities and provinces excluding Sejong Special Self-Governing City, while differential distribution is based on the National Sports Festival results (10%), international competition medal achievements (10%), and sport characteristics (50%). Operation support funds are applied differentially according to the number of athletes, sport characteristics (equipment, tools, or physical sports), and whether the sport is an Olympic or Asian Games event, with applications ranging from a minimum of 10 million KRW to a maximum of 90 million KRW.

This year, new operation support categories for 'minority sports' and 'revival organizations' have been introduced. Minority sports operation support targets sports with two or fewer workplace sports teams nationwide as of last year that require national strategic support for participation in the Olympics and Asian Games, with a total of 300 million KRW planned to be supported for two teams. These sports include luge, surfing, snowboarding, ice hockey, inline speed skating, cross-country, and sport climbing. Revival organization operation support targets organizations that have already been established but are experiencing difficulties in team operation due to financial difficulties or lack of athletes or coaches, and plan to resume operations this year, with a total of 200 million KRW planned to be supported for two teams.

This year’s contest strengthens the role of local governments, defined as key agents for promoting workplace sports under the National Sports Promotion Act. Accordingly, metropolitan local governments preliminarily review applications from workplace sports team operating organizations within their jurisdiction and submit them to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, which then conducts the final evaluation. Metropolitan local governments will receive documents from workplace sports team operating organizations wishing to participate in the contest by the 22nd, then submit establishment support applications to the Ministry by 6 p.m. on May 9 and operation support applications by 6 p.m. on May 13. Detailed contest guidelines can be found on the Ministry’s website under the 'Notices' board.

A policy official from the Ministry stated, "This year, we improved the contest method to enhance the responsibility and autonomy of local governments regarding workplace sports and to strengthen the rationality and fairness of budget allocation." The official added, "The Ministry plans to conduct surveys targeting national institutions and public organizations obligated to operate workplace sports teams, along with standard contract compliance checks and consulting."