*This content was translated by AI.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has officially begun formulating growth policy tasks to strengthen the fundamentals of professional soccer by reflecting on-the-ground voices.
On the afternoon of the 11th, Choi Hwi-young, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, chaired a plenary meeting of the Professional Soccer Growth Committee at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, and discussed key policy tasks for the sustainable growth of professional soccer.
The Growth Committee, established in February, has closely analyzed on-the-ground issues through three sub-committees: human resources, infrastructure development, and industrialization.
According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, at the meeting, Choi Hwi-yeong (Minister) stated, "For professional soccer to grow continuously, we must strengthen the league's foundational capabilities alongside increasing spectators, enhancing referee trust, improving stadium environments, and diversifying club revenue structures." He added, "The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will seek support measures to enable professional soccer to grow as a core content of the sports industry based on on-the-ground voices."
Currently, professional soccer is showing a steep growth trend. Spectator numbers, which were at 2.12 million in 2015, increased by 66% to 3.53 million last year, while league revenue more than doubled from 305.4 billion won to 630.1 billion won during the same period. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is focusing on developing structural solutions to convert this outward growth into a stable industrial foundation.
The human resources sub-committee identified restoring trust in referee decisions as its top priority. To this end, it plans to establish an integrated referee management system, pilot the introduction of semi-automated offside detection technology, expand video assistant referee (VAR) training, and improve the referee evaluation system to enhance the consistency and reliability of decisions.
The infrastructure development sub-committee is focusing on improving grass quality, which is directly linked to players' performance. Since this directly affects both players' performance and fans' viewing experience, discussions included expanding management equipment and personnel, as well as establishing standardized management criteria.
Regarding industrialization, measures to increase stadium utilization and enhance clubs' self-sufficiency were discussed. The plan involves identifying models that can generate revenue even on days without matches and expanding food, beverage, and souvenir sales spaces to improve fans' viewing experience. This also includes strengthening media competitiveness through improved broadcast quality and expanding data-based online content.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism plans to continue discussions throughout the second half of the year based on the key tasks selected at this meeting to establish concrete implementation plans.
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*This content was translated by AI.
