Yoo Seung-min, president of the Korean Sports Council, is providing encouragement and support for national kabaddi and techball athletes competing in the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, who are balancing their professional lives with training.
The Sports Council announced on September 22 that Yoo visited the kabaddi and techball teams participating in the event to offer his support.
According to the council, both sports have relatively weak domestic player bases and training infrastructures, leading many athletes to juggle their professional careers with their sports commitments.
In techball, which has been officially adopted as a competition for the first time in this event, Lee Jun-seok won the gold medal in men's singles, becoming the inaugural champion. He reportedly gave up a chance for a permanent position in a major company's production department to focus on training.
Kabaddi players face similar challenges. With no professional teams in the country, athletes maintain their jobs while training. National team member Kim Geon-myung works as a sanitation worker while continuing his athletic career.
Yoo expressed gratitude for the athletes and coaches who have prepared for the competition under difficult circumstances.
He stated, "I appreciate the efforts of the athletes and coaches who are doing their best with pride in wearing the Taegeuk mark, despite the challenging conditions of balancing work and training. I will pay closer attention to the voices from the field to ensure that national team athletes can train in a more stable environment, regardless of the size or recognition of their sport."
The Korean Sports Council has previously indicated that it will explore ways to support techball national team athletes in training at the Jincheon National Training Center. The council plans to assess training conditions for each sport to support national team athletes in their preparations for international competitions.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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