▲ Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Choi Hwi-young delivers opening remarks at the second plenary meeting of the Professional Football Growth Committee held at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on May 11.
Policy discussions aimed at strengthening the foundation of the K-League, such as increasing the reliability of referee decisions and improving the quality of stadium turf, have begun in earnest to keep pace with the growth of professional football.
Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Choi Hwi-young attended the plenary meeting of the Professional Football Growth Committee (hereinafter referred to as the Committee) held at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, this afternoon (May 11). During the meeting, he listened to key tasks and policy directions for each subcommittee to ensure the sustainable growth of the K-League and exchanged opinions.
This meeting was organized to synthesize the feedback gathered by the Committee—which was launched in February—across its three subcommittees: Human Resources, Infrastructure Development, and Industrialization, and to develop these into concrete policy tasks.
The Committee is co-chaired by football commentator Park Moon-sung and Second Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Kim Dae-hyun.
The Human Resources subcommittee addressed the restoration of trust in referee decisions as a core task.
The subcommittee proposed plans to simultaneously enhance the consistency and reliability of officiating by establishing an integrated referee management system, reviewing the pilot introduction of semi-automated offside technology, improving referee training and evaluation systems, and expanding Video Assistant Referee (VAR) training.
The Infrastructure Development subcommittee focused its discussions on ways to improve turf quality.
Recognizing that the condition of stadium turf is directly linked to both player performance and the fan experience, the subcommittee proposed a comprehensive overhaul of stadium management systems, including securing specialized equipment and personnel, and strengthening management standards.
The Industrialization subcommittee brainstormed ways to utilize stadiums as key hubs to boost club profitability and expand fan experiences.
The subcommittee focused on tasks to strengthen the financial self-sufficiency of clubs by increasing stadium utilization through the development of revenue models for non-match days, expanding food and beverage (F&B) and merchandise retail spaces, and creating multi-purpose experience zones. Additionally, they developed plans to improve broadcasting quality and expand data-driven online content.
Furthermore, the committee emphasized the need to revise regulations that hinder the profitability of clubs.
Minister Choi Hwi-young emphasized, "For professional football to continue to grow, we must build up the league's fundamental strength by increasing attendance, enhancing trust in referee decisions, improving stadium environments such as the turf, and diversifying club revenue structures."
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.