The election of the 41st Korea Sports President is now approaching on the 10th.
The 4 candidates who have completed registration will hold their first joint discussion for about 2 hours starting at 2 pm tomorrow (9th), and the entire process of the discussion will be broadcast online in real time.
On the 18th, the 2,170 electoral team will elect the next president of Korea Sports Complex through mobile voting for the first time ever.
Some of the electoral corps have already decided to whom to vote, and others have yet to make up their minds.
Considering the weight of the Korean sports venue in Korean sports, most of the electoral corps will exercise one vote after scrutinizing the pledges and visions announced by each candidate, their abilities and morals, and the contents of the debate, regardless of personal close relations such as delays or academic relations. Is expected.
Then, who should Korean sportsmen choose as the Korea Sports Center?
The main opinion is that it is difficult to say that one of the four candidates running this time has both strengths and weaknesses.
In the end, there is no choice but to thoroughly grasp the faces of the candidates and select the candidates who are better at all.
I've covered a lot of domestic athletes so far, and here's a summary of what they say to the four candidates.
First, Lee Ki-heung, the current president of Korea Sports Center.
He is a person whose likes and dislikes are sharply divided among sportsmen.
His great affinity and rich connections that he calls'madangbal' are considered as his representative strengths.
With such a weapon, he secured a budget that was difficult to obtain and raised the salaries of the employees of each sports organization.
His achievements are also evaluated at the Sports Training Center, which is being built in Jangheung, Jeollanam-do with tens of billions of won.
After passing through the chairman of the Korea Swimming Federation, the head of the 2012 London Olympics, and the vice-chairman of the Korea Sports Association, he is well-versed in the current issues in the athletic world, and he has a strong sense of determination to oppose the separation of the Korea Olympic Committee (KOC) against the government.
Another strong point is being an incumbent International Olympic Committee (IOC) member.
However, the'Short Track Coach Jaebeom Cho incident' and'The late Choi Sook-Hyun incident' are considered as representative deduction factors.
It is also being criticized for failing to eradicate violence and sexual assault through the punishment of'cotton bats' for illegal persons.
In short, it is being criticized for lack of commitment to innovation and human rights protection in the sports world.
Dankook University professor Shin-wook Kang, who declared his run for office early, is contrary to Chairman Ki-heung Lee.
His strength is that he is a hockey player and has experienced both a leader and a university professor, and is well versed in the field, theory and policy.
We maintain a smooth relationship with people in the athletic field through reasonable business handling with a gentle personality.
The downside is that it lacks popularity and weight.
In other words, it is pointed out that in order to protect the Korea Sports Association from'drafts' and secure a sufficient budget, it is necessary to have the power to move the political relationship, but in this regard, it is uneasy.
Candidate Joon-sang Yoo, the oldest candidate, has an unusual career.
As a former member of the fourth-tier National Assembly, he has a lot of'acquaintances' like Chairman Lee Ki-heung by conducting political activities across the opposition parties.
I also have'steel stamina' so that I can't believe the age of 79.
As the president of the Korean Inline Roller Federation and the president of the Korea Yacht Association, he has steadily formed a relationship with the sports world, and has a keen perspective on the ills of our sports world.
However, the public opinion is that it will be difficult to assemble a nationwide'support tax' since it is not a so-called'mainstream' in the sports world and is not popular among the electoral groups under 50s.
Candidate Jong-geol Lee, who has served as the president of the Korea Basketball Association for 10 years, is called the'Gold Spoon' from the top-notch family.
As an elite who graduated from Gyeonggi High School and Seoul National University Law School, he served as a member of the 5th National Assembly, and his reputation and weight are his greatest strengths.
In addition, since it has a close relationship with the current regime, it is easier to entice the government's cooperation if elected.
However, his behavior ahead of the candidate registration is a huge deduction factor.
In fact, after the latest announcement of the run for honorary Chancellor Jang Young-dal, Woo Seok-dae’s'big hit', the next morning, he suddenly gave up running and supported Candidate Shin-wook Kang, but at 5:56 pm that day, he passed the registration deadline 4 minutes and managed to register the candidate. It is because it received intense criticism for disregarding the athletic world as an incomprehensible'entertainment pace'.
The Korean Sports Association (then Chosun Sports Association), which was launched in 1920, was already over 100 years old.
The newly elected president of the Korea Sports Center must present a blueprint for a new 100-year period, and is faced with a huge task to take the lead in solving a number of tasks such as elite physical education, life sports, a virtuous cycle of school sports, and financial independence of sports clubs.
That's why this election is more important than ever.
In the remaining 10 days, I hope that all of the 2,170 electoral members who have the right to vote will closely observe the four candidates with their hawk's eyes and make a wise decision.
(Photo = YouTube Yoo Jun-sang TV capture, Yonhap News)