![Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Choi Hwi-young speaks at the second meeting of the K-Football Innovation Committee at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on Monday. [Yonhap]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/07/16/news-p.v1.20260714.12b3f9fa27194d4588f277a866168e07_P1.jpg)
Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Choi Hwi-young praised the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee's extraordinary general assembly for amending its bylaws to expand the presidential electoral college, calling it "the beginning of a great step toward innovation that will go down in the history of Korean sports."
Choi said Thursday on social media that the KSOC had passed the bylaw amendment by unanimous delegate vote, expanding the electoral college more than fortyfold — from roughly 2,200 members to 92,000. He called it "a historic decision that returns voting rights to grassroots athletes, the true owners of Korean sports, through the introduction of what is in effect a direct election system."
He also paid tribute to KSOC President Yoo Seung-min. "I salute the passionate leadership of President Yoo, who drove this change, and the bold courage of the delegates who shared the desire for innovation and unanimously rallied behind it in the broader interest," he said.
Choi added that "this decision goes beyond a simple change to the election system — it will serve as a catalyst for making South Korea's sports ecosystem more fair and transparent." He said he expected the Korea Football Association and other affiliated sports bodies to pursue their own innovation in line with the changes made by the KSOC.
The KSOC held the extraordinary general assembly Thursday at Olympic Parktel in Songpa-gu, Seoul, where delegates voted to adopt the bylaw amendment revising the composition of the electoral college. The number of eligible voters is expected to rise from roughly 2,200 to 92,000 as a result.
woo@heraldcorp.com
