Korean professional soccer’s K League referees set out to improve refereeing and improve their image.
The Korean Professional Football Referees Council (Chairman Lee Dong-joon) held a founding meeting on the 3rd of this month in Jeju Island to launch the organization. As a result of the meeting, a total of 60 professional soccer referees, including this year’s champions, agreed to establish the organization. The existing council will be transformed into the Korea Professional Football Referees Council, a corporation approved by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Gyeonggi Provincial Office. The incorporation of the Korean Professional Football Referees Association will help the development of referees and improve the fairness and image of referees.
The purpose of the organization is as follows
“The Korean Professional Football Referees Council is a non-profit organization under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Gyeonggi Provincial Office, and was created to develop and protect the rights and interests of referees participating in Korean professional football. It aims to create a fair and correct professional soccer culture through partnerships with various organizations leading Korean professional soccer and to further develop Korean soccer.”
The KFA is also active in education. Currently, the number of referees registered with the KFA is 2,736 as of 2022, according to data from the KFA’s website. This is a decrease of more than 70 percent from 9,809 in 2020. At the beginning of last year, professional referees were assigned to middle and high school tournaments because there were not enough referees.
Lee Dong-joon, head of the Referee Council, said, “If we become a corporation, we can legally conduct education projects. Many referees in the K League are aware of their responsibility to increase the number of registered referees. We will do our best to foster more referees through good consultation with the referee management team of the Korea Football Association,” he said.
An advisory committee has also been formed to help develop the Korean Professional Soccer Referees Association. The advisors include Kim Sang-ho (legal), a current member of the Korea National Assembly Ethics Review Advisory Committee, Yoon Jong-sung (ethics), the current human rights officer of the Korea Sports Federation for 토토사이트 the Disabled, Bing Won-cheol (human rights), a professor at the Korea Sports University, and Choi Tae-woong, the current secretary general of the Center for Sports Ethics.
“I have always loved soccer, and the function of referees is very important to the game and the industry,” said Kim Sang-ho, an attorney at Woo Il Law Firm. I think the incorporation of the K League Referees Council is significant. It will not only improve the treatment of referees but also create a legally effective organization that can protect their rights and interests. I am happy to be able to participate in such a meaningful cause. As an advisor, I will actively help the K League referees to go in the right direction,” he said.
The documents prepared after the founding meeting will be approved by the Gyeonggi Provincial Office and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and will be officially launched as the Korea Professional Football Referees Association in the first half of the year.
