Lawmaker introduces bill to curb monopoly, privatization of sports bodies, citing Chung Mong-gyu case

Rep. Jo Gye-won of the Democratic Party of Korea, who represents Yeosu-eul in South Jeolla Province, said Monday she had introduced a bill to amend the National Sports Promotion Act — informally dubbed the "Chung Mong-gyu-style monopoly and privatization prevention act" — to stop the abuse of internal rules that has enabled long-term dominance and the effective privatization of sports organizations, as seen in the case of Korea Football Association president Chung Mong-gyu.

Sports industry officials say member sports federations have been plagued by disputes over self-managed elections, including allegations of unfairness and legal battles. Last year, the Korea Badminton Association had an election delayed by an injunction, while the Korea Jiu-Jitsu Federation faced the prospect of legal action amid controversy over leaked internal documents and the participation of disciplined members.

The Korea Football Association drew sustained criticism as Chung, its former president, maintained a long grip on power despite a series of controversies — including an attempted amnesty for match-fixing offenders, a chaotic coaching appointment process and demands from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for heavy disciplinary action.

Jo said the root of these problems lies in a closed election structure in which only 100 to 300 delegates vote under an indirect system and the associations themselves form their own election management committees. "It is an environment where it is difficult to check the influence of the incumbent leadership, and illegal campaigning and vote-lining are bound to thrive," she said.

Under current law, elections for the presidents of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee and regional sports councils must be entrusted to the National Election Commission. Yet member sports federations — which select national team athletes and manage annual budgets running into the tens of billions of won — have exploited the absence of an explicit legal requirement to continue holding opaque, self-managed elections prone to abuse.

The amendment is designed to close that legal gap and restore democratic governance to sports organizations. It would establish in law the principle that heads of member sports federations are elected by vote, and require that election management be entrusted to the National Election Commission to ensure the independence and fairness of the process.

"Allegations that votes were traded in exchange for referee promotions or match assignments at the Korea Football Association — controversies that only came to light belatedly — are a serious matter that shakes the very foundation of fairness in sports," Jo said. "The fundamental reason that specific individuals have been able to treat sports federations as their private property and run them into the ground, across not just football but all of Korean sports, without any checks, lies in this very structure of opaque, cartel-style elections. Mandating that presidential elections be entrusted to the National Election Commission is the minimum safeguard needed to prevent opaque elections and the privatization of sports organizations."