KSOC to investigate curlers’ claims

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KSOC to investigate curlers’ claims

Korea’s top sports body said Friday it will launch a special audit of the women’s curling team after the athletes claimed that their coaches treated them unfairly.

The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) said it will launch a joint audit with the Sports Ministry to verify issues raised by the women’s curling team, which won a silver medal at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games.

The Korean women’s curling team from the North Gyeongsang Sports Council, better known as Team Kim, recently submitted a letter to the KSOC claiming that the athletes were subjected to irregular, unfair treatment from head coach Kim Min-jung, her husband Jang Ban-seok and her father Kim Kyung-doo.

Kim Kyung-doo is a former vice president at the Korean Curling Federation (KCF), while Jang was head coach for Korea’s mixed curling team at the PyeongChang Olympics. With Kim Min-jung, the two were considered big contributors to Team Kim’s success.

The curling team of Kim Eun-jung, Kim Yeong-mi, Kim Seon-yeong, Kim Kyeong-ae and Kim Cho-hee said in the letter that the coaches tried to “privatize” the team, giving unreasonable orders to the athletes and damaging the team atmosphere.

The curlers claimed that they also suffered verbal abuse from the coaches and didn’t get prize money they earned from international competitions.

Jang released a statement earlier Friday that denied the curlers’ claims. He said that they properly managed the prize money with the athletes’ consent and denied any wrongdoing as leader of the team. The KSOC said if it confirms the curlers’ claims are true, it will punish the coaches.

Yonhap
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