KOVO Continues to Make Bad Decisions

With the opening of a new season, Korea’s V league is still not looking sharp.

The Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) failed to officially register its professional volleyball team yet again, for the 5th time. At the same time, the league is unable to find a title sponsor.

The Korean Volleyball Federation (KOVO) postponed the V league draft twice, hoping KEPCO would be registered as a participating team in time. But they have failed to do so yet again. They will participate in the league but not as an officially registered team.

One of the problems in KEPCO’s failed attempt is the four registered teams’ misguided efforts to draft better rookies for their team. KOVO’s bad managerial skills should be blamed above all else. They were focused in ensuring the new team makes a successful transition into the league without prior discussions with pre-existing teams in the league.

Even in the process of signing a title sponsor for the V league, KOVO failed to deliver. KOVO was certain that STX would willingly sign on as their title sponsor. KOVO Commissioner Kim Hyeok-gyu even proudly announced beforehand that STX CEO Kang Deok-soo had agreed to provide the endorsement fee. But to everyone’s surprise, STX representatives responded by saying, “We’ve never made such promises.” On November 21, KOVO Secretary-General Park Se-ho said, “STX has announced that due to unfortunate circumstances, they have decided not to sponsor any type of sporting league.”

With this unexpected turn of events, KOVO suddenly has its back to the wall. They even turned to other corporate sponsors that weren’t even on their top 10 list, but were turned down.

The KBO receives 5 billion won, the KBL gets 3 billion won, and the V League receives around 1.3 billion won from their title sponsors annually. The V league tried to hold out for an extra 200 million won by devoting their sponsor gathering efforts to one specific organization only. Now they are paying the price for their blind pursuit of greater profits.

KOVO announced that before the opening of the V league on December 1, they will find a new sponsor. But time is running out, and many potential sponsors have already turned their backs on them. For the first time in four years, Korea’s professional volleyball league may have to start its season without a sponsor.

A professional volleyball analyst said, “There have been no new teams entering the league, and the internal disputes have been continually escalating. It’s time to seriously question the competence of the KOVO staff.”

beetlez@donga.com