KCC Egis leave Jeonju for Busan as stadium woes continue

Basketball

Published: 31 Aug. 2023, 14:02 Updated: 01 Sep. 2023, 10:56

KCC Egis leave Jeonju for Busan as stadium woes continue

Jeonju Gymnasium in Jeonju, North Jeolla [NEWS1]

KBL team Jeonju KCC Egis on Wednesday became the Busan KCC Egis, leaving Jeonju, North Jeolla after the city postponed the construction of a new gymnasium.

The KBL held a general assembly meeting at the KBL center in southern Seoul on Wednesday and approved Egis’s request to move their location.

The club started its life as the Hyundai Basketball Team in 1977, becoming the Daejeon Hyundai Dynat in 1997 and later the Daejeon Hyundai Gullivers in 1999. They left Daejeon in 2001, decamping to Jeonju, where the team has been based for the last 22 years.

Despite the rumors, KCC Egis will stay in Jeonju after all

The decision to leave Jeonju comes after Jeonju promised Egis in 2016 that they would build a new gymnasium for the club, as the existing Jeonju Gymnasium is over 50 years old and only holds 4,730 people — the smallest of any KBL team.

The city has still not started the process.

To make matters worse, Jeonju even told the Egis that they would be kicked out of Jeonju Gymnasium after the 2023-24 season as Jeonbuk National University — the owner of the land on which the gymnasium is located — is planning to demolish the gymnasium for its planned high-tech industrial complex, Campus Innovation Park.

Had Egis opted to stay in Jeonju until next season, the club would have only been able to play away games until the city constructed a new gymnasium.

Korean basketball fans flooded Egis’s official Instagram account on Wednesday, criticizing Jeonju’s irresponsible attitude and its failure to prevent the move.

Egis will be playing the upcoming 2023-24 KBL season games at Sajik Arena — home of WKBL team Busan BNK Sum.

“We will arrange the schedule with BNK who uses Sajik Arena as their home arena and use the facility together,” Egis Sporting Director Choi Hyung-gil said.

Busan KCC Egis Sporting Director Choi Hyung-gil speaks to reporters after the KBL general assembly meeting held at the KBL Center in southern Seoul on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

Egis have won the KBL five times and the championship eight times. They finished last season in sixth place on the 10-team table and reached the postseason.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]