"If You Want the Asian Games, Pay 100 Million Won Out of Pocket," Equestrian Association Controversy

"Entry Condition Requires 'Player to Pay 100 Million Won'"
"Due to Overall Increase in Expenses Including Transportation Costs"

The Korea Equestrian Federation has sparked controversy by notifying national team athletes that they must bear a cost of 100 million won if they wish to participate in the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games scheduled for September.

An official from the Equestrian Federation stated, "At the board meeting on the 15th, it was decided to set the condition that athletes must cover at least 100 million won in expenses such as transportation costs to participate in the Asian Games," according to a report by Yonhap News on the 18th.

[Photo by Yonhap News]

The reason behind the Federation's decision is that the total expenses required for the event have more than doubled.

According to the Federation, the maximum cost for this event, including horse transportation fees, is estimated to be 1.3 billion won. The cost for the previous event, the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games, was about 500 million won.

This sharp increase in expenses occurred because the Asian Games Organizing Committee signed an exclusive contract with a German agency for air transportation.

Since the agency only provides the Europe-Hangzhou route, horses located in Korea must pass through Europe to reach Hangzhou.

The Organizing Committee prohibited transporting horses to Shanghai or Hong Kong, which have flights capable of horse transport, and then moving them to Hangzhou, citing quarantine reasons.

An official from the Federation said, "We even looked into charter flights, but the cost for a charter flight alone is close to 900 million won," adding, "Due to administrative procedures, participation in the event must be confirmed by the 24th, so we had no choice but to make this decision."

If any of the currently scheduled athletes refuse to bear the personal expenses, the participation rights will be transferred to the next-ranked reserve athletes.

Hwang Soon-won, president of the Korea Equestrian Athletes Association, said, "The Asian Games is realistically the highest goal that athletes set while training," and added, "The athletes all trained hard, but they are disappointed because the Federation told them to participate at their own expense."

He continued, "This situation should have been fully considered in advance, but the Federation announced it too late," and urged, "I hope the Federation will take a responsible attitude."

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