It has been confirmed that the Korea Business Badminton Federation is considering easing the cap on new player down payment and annual salary.
In a recent interview with Yonhap News, Ahn Se-young (22, Samsung Life Insurance) said, “Even if it’s not an advertisement, I think we can enjoy enough economic rewards with badminton,” adding, “I hope you don’t block sponsors or contracts, but release a lot.” 스포츠토토
The current regulations specifically limit the contract terms of new players. For the contract period, college graduates are fixed at 5 years and high school graduates are fixed at 7 years. The down payment cannot exceed 150 million won and 100 million won, respectively. The annual salary for the first year of joining is 60 million won for college graduates and 50 million won for high school graduates. It cannot raise more than 7% annually until the third year after that.
However, various kinds of allowances, including prize money, are separate from annual salaries. Revenue from external advertisements is processed according to the internal regulations of each team. The federation is seeking to shorten the contract period and increase the down payment and annual salary cap.
In the case of the annual salary increase rate, a plan to raise the number and a new exception clause are being considered. The exception clause is expected to exempt athletes from limiting the increase rate if they perform well in international competitions such as the World Championship within their third year.
Ahn Se-young is not subject to this rule because she is currently in her fourth year of joining Samsung Life Insurance. However, according to the regulations, she received an annual salary of 50 million won in 2021, the first year of joining the team, and the annual salary increase rate was 7% every year until the third year.
The total amount of money Ahn Se-young has earned at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour tournament so far is $1.458,291 (about 1.99 billion won).