The 40th anniversary of professional football… How to select a person inducted into the ‘K League Hall of Fame

The K-League Hall of Fame, established ambitiously this year in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the launch of professional football, consists of three categories: ‘player’, ‘leader’ and ‘contributor’. Beginning with this year, nominees are selected every two years.

The selection of the inductees was conducted through the screening of the ‘K-League Hall of Fame Inductee Selection Committee’. In the player category, the committee recommends 15 candidates per generation, and for the nominated candidates, the committee itself votes (25%), club representative and manager vote (25%), media vote안전놀이터 (25%), and online fan vote (25%). %) through which the finalists are selected. The leader section and the contributor section are selected by internal agreement of the committee.

Won-seok Won, former editor-in-chief of Sports Seoul, served as the chairman of the selection committee, and △Kim Ho-gon, former general manager of Suwon FC △Ahn Ki-hun, former CEO of Busan I-Park △Park Jae-young, director of the Korea Professional Football Federation

In overseas professional football, there is a place where the Hall of Fame is selected. The English Premier League (EPL), where Son Heung-min is active, first introduced the Hall of Fame system in 2021. A total of 16 players have been inducted, starting with ‘Legend of Most Goals’ Alan Shearer and ‘King’ Thierry Henry, as well as Eric Cantona, Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney and Sergio Aguero. For the first time, former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, who has won the league title 13 times, and Arsene Wenger, former manager of Arsene Wenger, who is the ‘undefeated champion legend’, were selected as managers for the first time.

EPL Hall of Fame has conditions. Candidates are selected every year, and the inductees are determined through votes by the public and judges. The conditions for the athlete category are as follows. △Played in at least 200 EPL games with one club △Selected as an EPL All-Star in 10 years or All-Star in 2020 △Golden Boot or Golden Glove award △Player of the Year △At least 3 league titles △100 EPL goals or 100 clean sheets △EPL 250 matches.

It is noteworthy whether Son Heung-min (Tottenham), who recently became the first Asian player to score his 100th EPL goal, will be selected for the Hall of Fame in the future. Son Heung-min has already met three conditions. Son Heung-min, who played more than 260 league games in Tottenham alone, met the condition of ‘playing in 200 league games in one team’, and met the condition of ‘Premier League Golden Boot Award’ as he was the top scorer last season. This season, he achieved the feat of reaching the league’s 100th goal and also satisfied the condition of ‘more than 100 league goals’. It is a Hall of Fame that can be nominated even if one condition is met. It remains to be seen whether Son Heung-min, who can accumulate more achievements in the future, will be able to be listed in the EPL Hall of Fame after his retirement.