Shin Sang-hoon, the new president of the Korean Women’s Basketball Federation (WKBL), has announced his plan to expand the Asian quarter system and revive the foreign player system. He also mentioned his intention to launch the seventh team.
At the inauguration ceremony held at Hotel Rivera in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 3rd, new president Shin, who was elected as the 10th president of the WKBL, said, “We will make efforts to create a competitive league where fans come and expand the base of women’s basketball. We will make sure that the number of spectators increases by more than 50% through differentiated events and marketing activities during our term.”
“Korean women’s basketball was an Asian powerhouse, but its position in domestic professional sports is narrowing a lot as well as its international competitiveness,” he said. “It is time to change in line with the rapidly changing global basketball trend. As the president, I will devote all my capabilities and efforts to bring new changes and developments to women’s basketball.”
He also suggested a direction in a big frame, pointing out that the Asian quarter system will be introduced from 2024-2025 season, he said, “Now domestic players are competing with foreign players, and the league will be more heated,” and emphasized, “We will expand the Asian quarter system in the future to become a challenging league with an international sense.” Regarding the resurgence of the foreign player system that disappeared in 2020, he also said, “We need to collect opinions from clubs, but we need to play with foreign players to induce domestic players to improve their skills.” 토토사이트 추천
Governor Shin cited expanding the base of women’s basketball as a long-term task. “Japan has more than 3,000 schools with basketball departments, but Korea has only 18. It is most urgent to expand the base,” he said. “We will discuss with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ministry of Education, the National Sports Promotion Agency, and the Korea Basketball Association to expand the bottom.” Governor Shin, who mentioned the establishment of the 7th team in an interview with the media earlier, said, “It is difficult to say in detail at the moment, but we will visit places where we are interested and try to establish the 7th team.”
Bae Hye-yoon (Yongin Samsung Life Insurance), Lee Kyung-eun (Incheon Shinhan Bank), Kim Dan-bi (Asan Woori Bank), Kim Jong-un (Bucheon Hana One Q), Park Hye-jin (Busan BNK), and Yeom Yoon-ah (Cheongju KB Kookmin Bank) attended the inauguration ceremony to celebrate the new president’s inauguration. In a video congratulatory speech, Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Yoo In-chon said, “President Shin is the one who strives to establish Shinhan Bank’s women’s basketball team and led the women’s basketball box office in the 2000s. I hope that Korean women’s basketball will gain a strong momentum through new perspectives and various attempts and develop a brilliant second heyday.”
After graduating from Gunsan Sang High School and Sungkyunkwan University, Shin joined Shinhan Bank in 1982 and served as the managing director of Shinhan Financial Group and the CEO of the 5th Shinhan Financial Group after serving as the 9th and 10th president of Shinhan Bank. In 2004, when Shin was the CEO of Shinhan Bank, he acquired Hyundai Women’s Basketball Team and laid the foundation for the “Shinhan Bank Dynasty,” which won the sixth consecutive league title from the summer league in 2007 to the 2011-12 season. In the 10th WKBL presidential election held in May this year, Shin was elected president, beating former Incheon Mayor Ahn Sang-soo and former KBS N President Lee Joon-yong. Shin will lead the WKBL until June 2027.