Fellow athletes back pro baseball players' association

The pro baseball players association unofficially started an overnight executive meeting Friday to discuss ways of overcoming management's previously announced plan to call off this year's season.

Cha Young-Tae, administration chief of the Korean Pro Baseball Players Association (KPBPA), said discussions would focus on formulating an overall master plan and deciding on a future direction.

The outcome of the meeting will be announced on Saturday morning. The meeting is stirring considerable interest as the situation is on a cliff's edge as the teams earlier unveiled plans to cancel the season while the KPBPA has refused to participate in spring training.

Seal certificates of six team representatives were received by the KPBPA in order to register the group as a corporate entity. In hopes of rallying support from the fans, a signature-collection campaign will be held while negotiations with the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) continue.

About 290 people closes to the sports world, including Prof. Ahn Min-Seok of Chung-Ang University, as well as physical education professors and coaches nationwide have recognized the KPBPA and demanded their reinstatement by the KBO and arbitration by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. A decision was also made to establish a coalition to continue offering support for the players association's efforts.