*This content was translated by AI.
The full text of the statement released by the Korean women's national soccer team players with the Korea Professional Football Association last year calling for "improvement of treatment" was released. It is belatedly known that the women's national team players have been turned away from the rights and respect that deserve to be guaranteed as players and national teams, adding a warning of "boycott the game."
According to a statement released by the Korea Professional Football Association on the 20th calling for improved treatment of women's national soccer team players, women's national team players complained that the minimum environment to be guaranteed as national team players, such as irregular convocation sites and poor accommodation, is a major constraint on their concentration and condition.
In a statement, the women's soccer players said, "The women's national team is assigned regular tour buses every time, and they are fully burdened with long-distance travel fatigue. There is no transportation considering the protection of players, he said. "If there is no schedule for the men's national team because there is no dedicated training facility, the remaining training site is used."
He also expressed regret about using economy classes most of the time, unlike men's national team players when traveling abroad.
Women's national team players said, "After constant requests from players, limited business classes were provided to some overseas players, but this has become the subject of internal controversy every time," adding, "Overseas players are paying for the airport themselves."
"It is a matter of the health and safety of players, the improvement of their performance, and furthermore, basic respect and rights as a national team," he said. "Creating an environment where national players can perform at their best is a minimum condition, not an option."
In addition, he complained that even basic equipment such as training suits and uniforms were not sufficiently paid, the equipment was recovered, and the time and place of the stadium, which are determined without considering the condition of the players or the accessibility of fans, are also a physical and mental burden on the players.
In the meantime, the women's national team players asked the Korea Football Association to form a consultative body and prepare a practical dialogue for improving the treatment of the women's national team ▲ Securing exclusive training facilities and promising fundamental improvement of the training and convocation environment ▲ Providing basic equipment for games and training such as training uniforms and uniforms ▲ Protecting players and operating game schedules and venues based on accessibility of fans ▲ Establishing a consultative body to improve treatment of the women's national team and providing a practical forum for dialogue.
The players of the women's national soccer team, who issued the statement in September last year, demanded an official statement by October 17. "If no position is expressed by this deadline, the players who signed the statement will stop participating in all training related to the 2026 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women's Asian Cup and will officially boycott the game," he warned.
The Korea Professional Footballers Association, which released the full text of the statement, said, "What the players raised as a problem is not the grade of the seat (of the plane)," adding, "Players with serious injuries such as knee injuries, which are heavily affected by long flights, need careful management, but (women's national team) plane seats are in principle." In fact, there were cases where a player who was not well requested to upgrade his seat even at his personal expense, but he did not accept it," he claimed.
"The national team players' allowance is around 100,000 won per day, and there is no separate allowance for games. In case of injury, treatment and rehabilitation are also limited to a day, so additional costs are often borne by individual players, he said. "There were even cases where the men's national youth soccer team reused clothes or changed clothes in the airport bathroom to return the items paid after the away game."
While the women's national team players even predicted a "game boycott," the Korea Football Association reportedly said in an official reply through the Players Association that it would only promote the improvement of the support environment through communication while considering realistic financial conditions. However, no additional official dialogue or consultation took place after the reply, according to the players' association. The women's national soccer team went on an expedition to Europe in November, two months after the announcement of the statement, and it was reported that they also used economy seats at that time.
"What the women's national soccer team players wanted was not a confrontation with the Korea Football Association, but a practical conversation to share reality and find a solution together," said Kim Hoon-ki, secretary-general of the Korea Players Association. "As a representative player of the country and an athlete, I look forward to calmly discussing what the environment should be guaranteed and making step-by-step improvement measures together." The players' association and the players are ready to engage in formal dialogue for these discussions at any time," he said.
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*This content was translated by AI.
