"Prevention of Sexual Violence and Protection of Human Rights for Sports Athletes"… Government Prepares Standard Contract Draft

Ministry of Culture and Democratic Party to Hold Public Discussion on Standard Contracts on the 22nd
Labor Inspection Reveals 219 Labor Law Violations
Assessment on Improving Inequitable Contract Culture and Unreasonable Organizational Culture

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The government has prepared a draft standard contract to protect the human rights of professional sports and workplace sports team athletes. The contract specifies the rights and obligations of the contracting parties, contract duration and amount, prevention of sexual violence, dispute resolution, and other related matters.

Additionally, the Ministry of Employment and Labor recently conducted labor inspections at 30 local sports councils and found a total of 219 violations of labor-related laws, revealing an urgent need to improve unreasonable organizational cultures.

A public forum on the standard contract in the sports sector, co-hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Democratic Party lawmakers Park Jung and Jeon Yong-gi, and jointly organized by the Korean Sports Council and the Korea Professional Sports Association, will be live-streamed on YouTube from 1 p.m. on the 22nd.

Five Types of Standard Contracts Prepared for Professional Sports Including Baseball, Soccer, and Basketball

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) is introducing standard contracts for professional sports to review the overall professional sports system, including voluntary withdrawal, and to establish a fair contract culture.

To this end, the 'Sports Industry Promotion Act (to be promulgated in December next year)' was amended to develop standard contracts in consultation with the National Assembly and distribute them to professional sports teams. Subsequently, opinions were gathered through meetings with professional sports federations, clubs, and players to prepare the draft standard contracts for professional sports.

The professional sports standard contracts include provisions on ▲ obligations of players and clubs ▲ contract duration ▲ remuneration ▲ cost burden ▲ injury and illness ▲ accident insurance ▲ portrait and publicity rights ▲ contract transfer ▲ prevention of sexual harassment and other sexual violence ▲ contract termination ▲ dispute resolution, among others.

On the 6th, the late Choi Sook-hyun's fellow athletes held a press conference at the National Assembly regarding additional damages caused by the team coach, team doctor, and senior players. At the event, the fellow athletes stated, "The Gyeongju City Hall team was a kingdom ruled by the coach and certain players, where habitual violence and verbal abuse were accepted as normal in a closed and secretive environment. We were beaten more than 10 days a month, and it was unusual not to hear insults; we lived each day under verbal abuse as athletes." / Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

At this forum, draft standard contracts for five sports?baseball, soccer, men's and women's basketball, and volleyball?will be shared and discussed. After the forum, opinions on the draft standard contracts will be accepted via email to the Korea Professional Sports Association (propro@prosports.or.kr) until January 10 next year.

The MCST plans to comprehensively review these opinions, finalize the standard contracts, and proceed with their final legalization. The finalized standard contracts, along with explanatory guides, will be distributed through the websites of the MCST, Korea Professional Sports Association, and each professional sports federation.

219 Labor Law Violations Found at Local Sports Councils...Urgent Need to Improve Unfair Contracts

The Ministry of Employment and Labor expanded special labor inspections nationwide on local sports councils from early September to the end of October, following the human rights violation case involving the late athlete Choi Sook-hyun at the Gyeongju City Sports Council.

As a result, a total of 219 violations of labor-related laws were detected across all 30 local sports councils subject to inspection. This included all metropolitan local sports councils (17 locations) and 13 local sports councils in basic local governments that had caused social issues due to workplace harassment or were large in scale.

It was confirmed that athletes belonging to local sports councils, who are considered workers under the Labor Standards Act, were not properly paid statutory allowances such as overtime, night, holiday work allowances, and annual leave allowances.

It was also found that basic labor order was not properly observed, including failure to prepare employment contracts.

A survey diagnosing organizational culture regarding workplace harassment revealed an urgent need to improve unreasonable organizational cultures. Among the 30 inspected locations, more than 50% of respondents at 13 locations reported experiencing workplace harassment at least once in the past six months.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor issued corrective orders for violations of labor-related laws based on the inspection results and recommended improvements to unreasonable organizational cultures.

Standard Contracts for Workplace Sports Teams Established...Allowance Payments Specified

This forum will also address two types of standard contracts for workplace sports teams, reflecting the results of the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s labor inspections.

The MCST determined that standard contracts are necessary to improve the unequal contract culture between athletes and coaches within workplace sports teams and to establish a fair sports culture. Accordingly, the National Sports Promotion Act (to be enforced in February next year) was amended to develop and distribute standard contracts in consultation with the National Assembly.

Subsequently, after assessing contract statuses through specialized institutions and consulting lawyers and labor attorneys, and comprehensively reflecting the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s inspection results, draft standard contracts were prepared.

The main contents of the workplace sports team standard contracts specify ▲ contracting parties ▲ contract duration and amount ▲ scope of work or tasks ▲ rights and obligations of contracting parties ▲ matters related to contract effectiveness, modification, termination, and damages ▲ dispute resolution, among others.

Notably, the draft standard contracts stipulate that, in principle, players must be paid allowances for overtime, night, and holiday work if unpaid. However, by written agreement between player representatives and employers, paid leave may be provided in lieu of wages for overtime, night, and holiday work.

If a player suffers violence, sexual harassment, or other crimes that damage personal rights, they may terminate the contract and claim damages.

Conditions for contract termination are clearly defined to minimize human rights violations and ensure fair contracts, preventing players from suffering arbitrary disadvantages.

Detailed information on the standard contracts is available in the resource section of the Korean Sports Council website. Opinions on the draft will be accepted via email to the Korean Sports Council Regional Sports Department (oasis@sports.or.kr) until the 31st. The MCST plans to review these and reflect them in the final standard contracts.

Choi Yoon-hee, the 2nd Vice Minister of the MCST, stated, "We hope that a fair contract culture will be established throughout sports through these standard contracts. We will continuously monitor the proper implementation of the standard contracts and actively encourage organizations that contribute to creating a fair environment by providing incentives and restructuring related projects."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.