'From elementary and middle school students to professional athletes' investigation into human rights violations and corruption among sports personnel begins... Han Min-soo, Lee (President) Acting Director, says, "We intend to examine this in detail."

*This content was translated by AI.

The Sports Ethics Center under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Han Min-soo, Lee (President) Acting Director, hereinafter "the Center") announced that it will conduct an integrated survey on human rights violations and corruption among sports personnel for 2026 by the end of next month.

Regarding this survey, the Center explained that it is a statutory project implemented based on Article 18-3, Paragraph 3, Item 5 of the National Sports Promotion Act, stating, "The purpose is to collect basic data to understand the extent of human rights violations and corruption in the sports community and to develop prevention and response measures."

Since 2021, the Center has conducted annual surveys on human rights violations and corruption alongside sports personnel. It has consistently monitored experiences and awareness levels of human rights violations and corruption at sports sites.

In last year's 2025 survey on non-disabled sports personnel, the rate of experiencing human rights violations or corruption was found to be 18.2% for elementary school athletes, 14.1% for middle and high school athletes, 14.3% for university athletes, and 30.9% for professional and corporate league athletes. The experience rates for coaches and referees were also reported at 34.9% and 30.9%, respectively.

In a previous 2024 survey targeting disabled sports personnel, it was found that the proportion of athletes who had experienced or witnessed human rights violations in the past three years was 36.8% for elementary and middle school students, 22.2% for high school students, 52.6% for university students, and 33.3% for corporate and professional athletes.

The Center stated that it plans to compare and analyze the results of this year's survey with key findings from surveys conducted from 2021 to 2025 to examine trends in changes regarding human rights violations and corruption within the sports community.

It further emphasized, "In particular, we aim to identify recurring issues of human rights violations and corruption, analyze structural and persistent problems at sports sites, and use these findings as evidence for future policy and institutional improvements."

Han Min-soo, Lee (President) Acting Director of the Center, said, "Through this 2026 survey, we intend to closely examine how human rights violations and corruption are manifesting in the sports community. Based on voices from the field, we will develop practical improvement measures and actively utilize the survey results for future policy and institutional improvements to enable sports personnel to focus on their activities in a safer environment."

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*This content was translated by AI.