Did the criticism statement of the Korea Skating Leaders Federation (Chairman Jang Gwang-deok) have an impact?
In February of last year, two leaders, Ahn Hyun-soo (37, Russian name Victor Ahn) and Kim Seon-tae (47), who served as technical coach and coach for the Chinese short-track national team during the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, respectively, failed to return to the domestic team.
According to Yonhap News, Seongnam City said on the 29th, “Seven people, including Victor Ahn and former Chinese national short track team coach Kim Seon-tae, applied for the city hall ice team coaching job, but Victor Ahn and the other two applicants did not make the top two multiple candidates.” said.
A city official explained, “Through the screening of documents and interviews, various factors such as technology and communication skills were comprehensively judged.” Seongnam City plans to announce the results of the ice team coach selection on the 31st.
Previously, on December 19 last year, Seongnam City posted a job announcement for the ice team coach, which became vacant when coach Son Se-won quit. Accordingly, a total of 7 people, including Ahn Hyun-soo, applied. It was confirmed through the leaders who went to the interview that Mr. A, who led the ‘Young Skating Association’, was included in this. These seven people had an interview at Seongnam City Hall on the 12th.
Then, on the 13th, the Skating Leaders Federation sent a statement to the media criticizing the attempt of two people, Hyun-soo Ahn and Seon-tae Kim, to return to the domestic team.
In this statement, the Federation of Skating Leaders specifically criticized Hyun-soo Ahn and Hyun-tae Kim, saying, “If you look at the open recruitment process for short track coaches for the workplace sports department in Seongnam City, there are several things to be concerned about.”
The reason for the criticism of Ahn 메이저놀이터 Hyun-soo was as follows. “Russian Viktor Ahn gave up his Korean nationality and naturalized as a Russian citizen, and when the controversy arose about betraying his country, he explained, ‘I knew dual citizenship would be possible. However, it was later revealed that he received an Olympic gold medal pension in a lump sum just before naturalization. He knew in advance that dual citizenship was not allowed, and after taking his money as a lump sum, he pretended not to know.”
Regarding former coach Kim Seon-tae, “At the time of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, when President Moon Jae-in visited the training center for encouragement, Shim Seok-hee, who was absent due to assault (by Coach Jae-beom Cho), concealed the fact that he could not come out with a cold, and made a false report. This is Kim Seon-tae, the national team coach. Kim Seon-tae was severely punished by the Skating Federation by suspending his qualifications as a leader after Shim Seok-hee’s assault and sexual violence were revealed right after the Olympics.”
At that time, the Korean short track team was under the system of head coach Kim Seon-tae and coach Cho Jae-bum. General Manager Kim was in charge of the men’s team and Coach Cho was in charge of the women’s team.
The Skating Leaders Federation continued, “These two chose to take charge of the Chinese national team during the Beijing Winter Olympics instead of self-restraint when domestic leadership activities became difficult due to discipline and controversy. Freedom of job choice must be guaranteed, but freedom of job choice cannot exceed fairness, which is the top priority in sports,” he said.
However, this statement by the Federation of Skating Leaders is silent about other leaders who are known to have been disciplined for problems such as beating players while coaching, although they submitted applications with Ahn Hyun-soo and Kim Seon-tae, so some people doubt their intentions.
In a recent phone call with Sports Seoul, Jang Gwang-deok, president of the Skating Leaders Federation, was asked, “Have you not been active in the Young Skating Association in the past?” I came out of the Young Ice Merchants Association,” he replied.
Regarding the Ice Leaders Federation, he said, “It was reorganized last year after not being active. There are only 24 executives, and there are about 70 general members across figure skating and short speed skating.