Jeju faces athlete selection challenges for National Sports Festival amid budget woes

Jeju Province is struggling to finalize its athlete delegation for the 107th National Sports Festival, which it is hosting in October, due to significant budget shortfalls. Despite the prestige of hosting the event for the first time in 12 years, the province faces challenges in funding its team.

Jeju aims to field a delegation of 850 athletes and coaches, an increase from the 700 participants at last year's festival in Busan. However, the allocated budget for "National Sports Festival and Youth Sports Festival Athlete Support" remains the same as last year at 865 million won. The additional 300 million won required to support the larger delegation has not been included in the budget, despite a request from the relevant department in the supplementary budget proposal submitted to the Jeju Provincial Council.

The core issue behind the funding gap lies in the poor operational performance of the Jeju Provincial Sports Council. The council, which receives subsidies from the province to organize and manage athlete delegations for various sports festivals, received an "unsatisfactory" rating in last year's performance evaluation. Allegations of subsidy embezzlement and abuse of power are believed to have influenced this assessment.

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The provincial sports council has various problems, which led to deductions in last year's subsidy project performance evaluation.

According to administrative guidelines from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the province cannot increase the budget for this project this year due to the council's poor evaluation. A Jeju Province official in charge of sports promotion stated that "the provincial sports council has various problems, which led to deductions in last year's subsidy project performance evaluation."

If the budget remains insufficient, the size of the delegation may be capped at last year's level, disappointing athletes who have been training with hopes of increased participation opportunities. Athletes in sports with lower medal potential might be the first to be excluded. A sports council official noted that "if we have to select participants based on budget constraints, we will have to prioritize those with a higher chance of winning."

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The National Sports Festival is the largest comprehensive sports event in the country, making it an important competition for athletes to prove their performance. If we select participants based on the budget, we will have to consider the probability of winning.