Samsung’s ‘first-class principle’ has long since disappeared.
The late Chairman Lee Kun-hee, who led Samsung, put the philosophy of ‘first class’ at the fore. “History only remembers the first place. The phrase “no one remembers second place” represented Samsung’s philosophy. Samsung’s philosophy was fully reflected in the management of the sports team. But this is already in the past. Since 2014, when Cheil Worldwide took over the sports team, it went downhill.
Samsung owns all four major professional sports clubs. 먹튀검증Suwon Samsung (soccer), Samsung Thunders (men’s basketball), Samsung Lions (baseball), and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance (men’s volleyball) are the targets. Samsung Life Insurance Bloomings (women’s basketball) is also operated. Except for women’s basketball, unlike the glory of the past, they are all in the lower ranks.
Suwon Samsung boasted a gorgeous squad that was called ‘Real Suwon’ in the past. It was one of the prestigious clubs leading the K-League. For the past 4 years, the grades have been 8th to 8th to 6th to 10th. In particular, last season, he experienced the humiliation of experiencing the promotion playoffs (PO) for the first time since the club was founded. In this process, the legendary coaches had a short lifespan under the name of ‘Real Blue’. All of them failed to complete their tenure. Directors Imsaeng Lee, Gunha Park, and Byeonggeun Lee packed their bags like that. It’s not like there wasn’t as much investment as we wanted.
Even if a player’s departure occurred, it could not be filled. This season, the departure of Oh Hyun-gyu (Celtic) is greatly felt. Oh Hyun-gyu’s transfer fee of 3 million pounds (approximately 4.3 billion won) did not lead to reinforcement of players. In the end, coach Lee Byeong-geun was sacked after leaving a disastrous record of 2 draws and 5 losses in 7 matches. He also took on the disgrace of being the first coach change in the K-League this season.
Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance also had a glorious era. It shines in advancing to the championship game for 11 consecutive seasons in the V-League and winning the V-League 8 times. But this too is in the past. Last place in the 2020-2021 season, 6th place in the 2021-2022 season, and stayed in last place again this season. Following Shin Jin-sik and Ko Hee-jin, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance former coaches such as Kim Sang-woo were put forward one after another, but the reality is that they have not been able to approach spring volleyball.
The Samsung Lions also have moments that no team is envious of, enough to be called a ‘dynasty’. He has won the Korean Series seven times. In particular, from 2011 to 2014, they won the combined championship for four consecutive years. However, last season, it lost 13 straight times for the first time since its foundation, and this season, it is struggling with 6 consecutive losses in the beginning and is in 8th place as of the 19th. It only sparkled in 3rd place in the 2021 season.
The Samsung Thunders also reached the bottom three times, starting with the 7th place in the 2017-2018 season. It’s not even a big investment. In addition, Samsung stopped sponsoring wrestling in ama events, and disbanded the tennis and rugby teams. Chairman Lee Jae-yong is known to show special affection for baseball, but such stories do not even come out in other sports.
Pros speak with results. There are no results without investment. It has been quite some time since the sports team was transferred to Cheil Worldwide. It raises a question mark as to whether he really has any intention of running a sports team.