South Korea's top baseball league operator has "revised unfair provisions in its agreement with players, including a compulsory payment cut," the antitrust watchdog said Monday. Before making their professional debut, "all 646 baseball players must sign a contract with 10 clubs." The Korean Baseball Organization-led contract has been "under criticism for years for its unfairness" as players whose annual salary is 200M won ($180,000) or more receive payment cuts on a daily basis "when they fail to make first-tier rosters." The players also have to cover expenses for training and rehabilitation between February and November, while the team "can terminate the contract without the consent of the players." The Fair Trade Commission had "launched a probe into the provisions, and the 10 clubs have changed such unfair clauses of the agreement on their own" (YONHAP, 10/10).
MORE SAY NO: National Rugby League clubs Parramatta, Newcastle, Manly and South Sydney on Monday became the latest "to reject a rich offer" to play Super League runner-up Warrington in England next February. Melbourne, Canberra, North Queensland, Brisbane, Canterbury, Penrith and Gold Coast have all "ruled out the possibility of heading to England for the game," which would net an NRL club about A$400,000 ($304,225). But the Storm do not want to play and "neither does any other side, with most arguing pre-season schedules have already been completed" (Sydney DAILY TELEGRAPH, 10/10).
NEW TECH: The Euroleague announced a new collaboration with Hawk-Eye Innovations. Hawk-Eye's state-of-the-art technology comes to the Euroleague following its involvement with the British Basektball League and Japan's B.League. Smart Replay will capture eight video feeds at Euroleague games with the Instant Replay System Operator sitting courtside (Euroleague).
LEAGUE BRIEFS ...
The Virtual Football Organization, a FIFA17 tournament with six La Liga clubs, was announced at the Barcelona Games World. The new esports league, scheduled to start in January, "will be played in a very similar way to traditional football," as the FIFA Pro Clubs 11 vs. 11 format, with 22 players in each games, will be used. All participating teams "will be divided into divisions with promotions and relegations for the top four and last four of each division" (ESPORTS OBSERVER, 10/8).
The Indonesian National Sports Committee (KONI) is "establishing a national high-performance sports academy to train top-quality athletes and coaches." KONI Chair Tono Suratman said that he "wanted to upgrade Indonesia's athletes and coaches through higher education." In the first year, the academy, or Akornas, "will only provide vocational degree courses and prioritize swimming, taekwondo and badminton" (JAKARTA GLOBE, 10/10).
