Professional basketball has suffered its first-ever team elimination. Goyang Day One, a team struggling with financial difficulties, has been disqualified.

The KBL held a board meeting on the 16th and made the final decision to expel the team. KBL President Kim Hee-ok said, “In accordance with the provisions of the KBL’s bylaws, we have expelled Day One Sports as a member organization. This is because we have finalized that they have no intention and ability to operate the club normally.” This is the first time a team has been expelled from the KBL since the league’s inception.

Dayone Sports joined the KBL ahead of the 2022-2023 season with the acquisition of the Goyang Orion Basketball Team, but after just one season, the team was doomed. Although the team’s creditworthiness was questioned from the time it was approved, it was able to enter the KBL with its parent company Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering acting as an ‘insurance policy’ and started the season as the first team in professional basketball to have a naming sponsor, with Carot Insurance as its sponsor.

However, shortly after the season started, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering went into receivership and delayed the first payment of the subscription fee. As negative public opinion exploded, the team suffered a “loss of interest” from Carot and repeated financial problems throughout the season, including late payment of subscription fees and late payment of player wages.

In response, the KBL gave the team 15 days to pay all outstanding wages, pay off debts, and provide a detailed plan for the future of the club. After repeatedly saying “wait” and “we’ll work it out,” Day One was unable to respond to the demands and failed to prove its “future” and was expelled.

The players immediately lost their team. The KBL decided to remove the team, but prioritized the players’ relief first. They decided to find a company to buy the team. “We will actively discuss follow-up measures, including the search for a new buyer, with the city of Busan, which has expressed a strong desire to attract a men’s professional basketball team,” the KBL said.

If a new buyer is not found, a special draft will be held for 18 players from Day One. The date is tentatively set for July 21. The team will have at least a month to find a new buyer so they can start preparing for next season. If the special draft is held as a last resort, the KBL will play next season with a nine-team system.

Following the decision to leave the organization, the Day One players visited the KBL office and met with the organization’s president Kim Hee-ok. The players are in arrears on their salaries, but have no club to turn to. The KBL, which expelled the team, will first pay the salary from June 1 and then return it in an appropriate way. The KBL will also provide emergency living funds.

The team has not been able to pay its players, as well as its home game management staff, and has not paid the purchase price to Orion. This is why no one is willing to take on the debt. There are many issues that need to be addressed in order to be financially responsible.

The KBL plans to hold Day One Sports CEO Park No-ha and owner and sporting director Heo Jae administratively and legally responsible for the situation. The players are also preparing a legal response against the executives. “I think it’s right to take legal action to get the money we owe,” said captain Kim Kang-sun.

DaeWon entered the basketball world with “basketball president” Heo Jae as its CEO, who was last seen off the court as the national team coach at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games. Having the biggest star in Korean basketball as the face of the organization on his own honor was one of the motivations that ultimately led to the KBL’s initial lack of validation. While Heo wasn’t actually in charge of the team’s finances, the words “trust us” and “we’ll show you results rather than words” came from him in response to the outpouring of distrust at the time of the team’s inception. While the team collapsed and the players were not paid, Heo did nothing. As a result, it became difficult for him to avoid responsibility for the league and the players.

Neither representative was present at the meeting where the fate of the club was decided, and DaeWon only released a statement about an hour after the decision was made. In effect, it was Park’s personal statement.메이저사이트

Park No-ha was the one who had actually been in charge of the club’s operations and finances. However, she focused on defending Heo Jae, saying, “I’m really sorry to Heo Jae for accepting my proposal and taking over as the owner of Day One because I love basketball,” and resigned from the position. Having already been kicked out of the league, he made empty promises without a concrete blueprint, saying, “I dreamed of a new way of running a professional basketball team, but I would like to admit that I failed,” and “I promise that we will continue to do our best to pay the wage arrears, even if it takes a while.”

Dayton’s departure is a shameful chapter in the history of basketball, a tale of irresponsible business and management, reckless gambling with the future of the league and its younger players, and a league that failed to vet its players.