Controversy over contract violation over the trade of professional volleyball player Oh Ji-young has arisen, and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is going to give an authoritative interpretation.
On the 26th of last month, GS Caltex and Pepper Savings Bank completed the trade of Oh Ji-young, a national representative libero. Pepper Savings Bank recruited Oh Ji-young to strengthen its power, and GS Caltex received the right to be nominated in the first round of the 2024-25 season rookie draft.
About a month has passed since then and Oh Ji-young has melted into Pepper Savings Bank. There didn’t seem to be any problems so far. However, Pepper Savings Bank announced Oh Ji-young’s absence ahead of the 4th round match against GS Caltex held at Pepper Stadium in Gwangju on the 23rd, and said, “At the time of the trade, we agreed not to use Oh Ji-young in the remaining matches against GS Caltex this season.” .
This was also specified in the contract and the Korean Volleyball Federation (KOVO) recognized this and approved the trade, so it was not against the rules. However, voices of concern were raised among the fans that it was infringing on the basic rights of the players.
In fact, according to the ‘professional sports standard contract’ announced by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in June 2021, the provision that Oh Ji-young’s parental team cannot participate in matches is clearly controversial.
The ‘professional sports standard contract’ was prepared to protect the rights and interests of players and create a fair contract culture, and domestic professional sports clubs, including professional volleyball, are currently conducting contracts accordingly. 스포츠토토
According to Article 4 (Obligations of the Club) of the Standard Contract, “The club is not discriminatory in discriminatory practices such as excluding players from games and training for reasons such as race, nationality, region of origin, school of origin, appearance, etc., in addition to their abilities as professional sports players. It is stipulated that it should not be a humane act.”
Here, Article 19 (Trade) Paragraph 1, “The club shall not enter into a trade contract under conditions less favorable to the player than this contract, unless there are special circumstances,” is also likely to be violated.
If Oh Ji-young is unable to play in the game against GS Caltex this season, he may suffer a loss in acquiring FA (free agent) qualifications, and furthermore, he may be at a disadvantage in competing for personal records and titles. In other words, he is being infringed on his basic rights as a player.
Teams competing for rankings are also at a disadvantage. Oh Ji-young is a top-notch libero with excellent skills enough to join the national team. If he can’t stand against his own team, GS Caltex can face Pepper Savings Bank with a better advantage.
On the other hand, Oh Ji-young can play against other teams normally, but he may be unfair to Korea Expressway Corporation and KGC Ginseng Corporation, which compete for rank with GS Caltex. This could cause GS Caltex to enjoy a reflective benefit and become embroiled in a fairness controversy.
In the end, KOVO said, “Since there may be gaps in terms of protecting players’ rights, we would like to request a clear authoritative interpretation through inquiries from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.” said.