Match-fixing in South Korean professional sports has spread to soccer, baseball, and e-sports, threatening the fairness of the sporting world. Financial incentives and a lack of ethics are the root causes of the problem, which requires better treatment of athletes and systematic character education. Long-term educational reforms and public awareness are key to establishing healthy ethics in sports and society at large.
Starting with match-fixing in professional soccer, followed by professional volleyball, and now professional baseball, match-fixing has been rampant in South Korea in the major sports that most people love. In South Korea’s K League, a whopping 54 players have been permanently banned for match-fixing, most of whom have been playing soccer since childhood and know nothing else but soccer, but this action was probably necessary to preserve the fairness of the game. Nonetheless, the public’s trust in the sport as a whole has been shaken by match-fixing, and there are growing concerns that other sports may have similar problems.
In the case of professional baseball, match-fixing has been less about manipulating wins and losses and more about subtleties like whether or not the first batter batted first, making it harder for casual fans to notice. This shows the need for greater oversight and prevention. In a sport where fair play is paramount, match-fixing poses a huge threat to the ethics of the entire sport. In particular, the recent rise in popularity of E-sports has also led to match-fixing issues, suggesting that it can occur in all sports.
The most obvious reason for match-fixing is money. To prevent players from falling prey to this temptation, we need to improve realistic salary structures. While many matches are now monitored in real-time, it’s not realistic to expect to catch match-fixing in every game. Therefore, we need to implement a realistic minimum salary to prevent players from being tempted, as well as strengthening player pension systems to provide a financial safety net in retirement. This would be a more fundamental deterrent than short-term punishment.
The next important measure is a change in education. One of the reasons for the current epidemic of match-fixing is not only financial, but also a lack of ethical judgment. This is something that can”t be blamed on the athletes themselves. The lack of ethical values instilled in athletes from a young age has resulted in them not taking the issue of match-fixing or violence seriously. In the past, professional baseball has had cases of players openly taking drugs or ordering them in groups, and some players have shown a casual attitude toward the issue. The drug use disclosed by professional baseball player Hae-Young Ma in his 2009 autobiography illustrates this reality. On the surface, institutional measures such as fines and disciplinary actions are not enough to eradicate this problem, and ultimately, educational reforms are needed to raise the ethical awareness of athletes.
Educational reform can be approached from two directions. First, character education needs to be strengthened for students starting out in athletics, and the educators who teach them need to be taught the ethical values of athletics. For example, the problem is exacerbated by the fact that in high school, athletes often skip class to work out. They’re more focused on their athletic endeavors than their studies, and they rarely receive basic education or character education outside of athletics. It’s not much different in universities. For example, a friend of mine who is currently studying physical education at an S university said that even the professor of the department said “it’s hard to imagine physical education without violence,” and the field as a whole is bound by traditional practices. These nepotistic and deferential networks perpetuate the practice of turning a blind eye to one another’s misbehavior and create an atmosphere where cheating is personal.
In such an environment, no amount of ethics education for students will have much of an impact, so it’s important to introduce curricula for athletic leaders that instill a sense of the meaning and ethics of athletic activity, and create a culture where both athletes and leaders are deeply aware of the harms of cheating. For example, by making sportsmanship education mandatory from the primary school level and implementing policies to reduce violence and cheating in schools, we can gradually change the culture of athletics. It would also be a good idea to introduce mentoring programs to help budding athletes avoid the temptation to cheat in the face of real-life challenges.
Finally, there is a need to revamp the national curriculum to improve public awareness. The recent scandal in professional baseball is still popular, with stadiums filled to capacity even for exhibition games. This shows that our society lacks awareness of cheating behaviors such as match-fixing. Especially when it’s combined with the more common cases of corruption by chaebols and politicians, the public has come to overlook match-fixing as a “minor irregularity”. However, this perception threatens sports ethics and undermines the value of fairness. To truly combat match-fixing, we need to increase education about foul play from a young age and raise ethical awareness throughout society. This will not just be a problem in sports, but will have the effect of raising the moral foundation of society as a whole.
In the end, this scandal calls for a fundamental change in the educational system in addition to institutional improvements. These changes will take time, but in the long run, they will contribute to the establishment of a healthy sense of ethics in Korean sports and society as a whole. Athletes involved in match-fixing will be banned from the sport for life. However, if they were not raised to recognize that such behavior is illegal, they are victims of the system. This case should be a wake-up call for the sports world to rebuild its ethical foundations and teach athletes the right character traits.
