In this blog post, we will look at the causes of match-fixing that has spread throughout Korean professional sports and the institutional and educational improvements needed to prevent it.
From professional football to professional volleyball and now professional baseball, match-fixing was rampant in the major sports that most Koreans love. In the Korean K-League, a whopping 54 players were permanently expelled for match-fixing, and most of them had played only football since childhood and knew nothing else. However, this measure was probably an unavoidable choice to protect the fairness of the football world. Nevertheless, as the public’s trust in sports as a whole has been shaken by match-fixing, there is growing concern that similar problems may occur in other sports.
In professional baseball, match-fixing is related to subtle details such as whether the first batter walks or gets on base, rather than manipulating the outcome of the game, so it is difficult for ordinary fans to detect. This shows that more careful monitoring and preventive measures are needed. In sports, where fair competition is the most important, match-fixing poses a major threat to the overall sports ethic. In particular, match-fixing has also occurred in e-sports, which has recently gained great popularity, suggesting the possibility of match-fixing occurring in all sports.
The most obvious reason for match-fixing is probably financial issues. To prevent athletes from falling into such temptations, a realistic salary system must be improved. Although many games are currently being monitored in real time, it is practically impossible to detect match-fixing in all games. Therefore, measures such as ensuring that the minimum salary is realistic so that players are not tempted and strengthening the player pension system as part of measures to prevent match-fixing to provide an economic safety net after retirement are necessary. This will serve as a more fundamental deterrent than short-term punishment.
The next important measure is a change in the way education is conducted. One of the reasons why match-fixing is rampant today is due to a lack of ethical judgment, in addition to financial reasons. This is also something that cannot be simply attributed to the responsibility of individual athletes. As a result of athletes not being able to develop ethical values from a young age, they have become less aware of the seriousness of match-fixing and violence. In the past, there were cases of players openly taking drugs or using them as a group in professional baseball, and some players have shown an attitude that is not aware of this. The case of professional baseball player Ma Hae-young, who revealed in his autobiography in 2009 that he had taken drugs, is a good example of this reality. On the surface, institutional measures such as fines and disciplinary actions alone cannot eradicate this problem, and ultimately, reforms in the educational methods that raise the ethical awareness of athletes are needed.
Education reform can be approached from two directions. First, character education should be strengthened for students who start playing sports, and educators who teach them should also learn the ethical values of the sports world. For example, if you think about the fact that most students on sports teams in high school are absent from class and only play sports, you can see the seriousness of this problem. They are only focused on sports rather than studying, and they receive almost no basic education or character education other than physical education. The situation is not much different in universities. For example, a friend of mine who is currently studying in the Department of Physical Education at S University said that even the professor of the department said, “It is hard to imagine physical education without violence,” which shows that the physical education world is generally bound by traditional practices. This kind of network centered on school ties and regional ties continues the practice of turning a blind eye to the wrongdoings of others and creates an atmosphere where misconduct is considered a personal matter.
In such an environment, it is difficult to expect any real effect from ethics education for students. Therefore, sports leaders should also introduce educational courses that can instill a sense of the meaning of physical education and ethics, and create a culture in which both athletes and leaders can deeply recognize the harm of cheating. For example, by making sportsmanship education compulsory from the elementary school level and implementing policies to reduce violence and misconduct in schools, we can gradually change the climate of the sports world. It would also be a good idea to introduce a mentoring program to help students who are just starting to play sports avoid the temptation of misconduct despite the real-life difficulties they face.
Finally, a nationwide curriculum overhaul is needed to improve public awareness. The recent match-fixing scandal in professional baseball is still popular, with the exhibition match drawing a full house. This shows that our society lacks awareness of foul play such as match-fixing. In particular, as these fouls are often combined with corruption cases involving chaebols and politicians, the public has come to overlook match-fixing as a “small foul.” However, this perception threatens sports ethics and undermines the value of fairness. To truly guard against match-fixing, we need to strengthen education on foul play from an early age and raise ethical awareness throughout society. This will not only solve the problem in the sports world, but also have the effect of raising the moral foundation of society as a whole.
Ultimately, this match-fixing scandal has led to the need for institutional improvements and fundamental changes to the education system. These changes will take time, but in the long run, they will greatly contribute to the establishment of a healthy sense of ethics in the Korean sports community and society as a whole. Athletes involved in match-fixing will be removed from the sports world through permanent expulsion. However, if they did not develop the awareness that such foul play is illegal during their growth, they too can be considered victims of the system. This incident should be used as an opportunity to strengthen the ethical foundation of the sports community and make efforts to teach athletes the right character.
