V League suspends Oh Ji-young for bullying teammates

Gwangju AI Pepper Savings Bank AI Peppers’ Oh Ji-young, left, receives the ball during a V League game against GS Caltex Seoul Kixx at Pepper Stadium in Gwangju on Feb. 6. [YONHAP]

Gwangju AI Pepper Savings Bank AI Peppers libero Oh Ji-young has been suspended from the V League for one year for bullying her teammates, the Korea Volleyball Federation (KOVO) announced Tuesday.

The KOVO summoned Oh and the affected players to its headquarters in western Seoul on Tuesday and handed Oh the suspension after confirming that she bullied and verbally abused her teammates.

The KOVO did not name the affected teammates, but said in a press release that Oh’s behaviors are “bad customs that need to be eradicated in professional sports.”

The suspension marks the first time a player has received a punishment for bullying her own teammates in V League history.

Oh, 35, is a veteran libero, having started her pro career at Gumi Korea Expressway, now called Gimcheon Korea Expressway Hi-Pass, in 2006, before playing for Daejeon KGC, now called Jung Kwan Jang Red Sparks, from 2017 to 2021 and GS Caltex Seoul Kixx from 2021 to 2022.

She then joined the Peppers in 2022, a year after the club was founded. She was also a regular pick on the national team from 2010 through 2021, during which she won a silver medal at the 2010 Asian Games and reached the semifinals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Oh could still seek to play overseas during her suspension, as the V League only has the right to suspend her from playing volleyball within its own system.

The suspension comes as the Peppers are in the midst of possibly the worst season in V League history.

The Gwangju side set the record of the longest single-season losing streak, at 23, before cutting it with a win over Hi-Pass last week.

The club unsurprisingly sits at the bottom of the league table with just three wins out of 31 games as of press time Tuesday.

To make the matter worse, head coach Joe Trinsey looks set to leave the club, with Korean media reporting that the club will announce his departure soon.

The reason for the departure may be because Trinsey has failed to make significant improvements to the team's performance despite reinforcing the squad ahead of this season.

After finishing the league in last place for two seasons in a row, the Peppers brought in Trinsey and a number of experienced players, including former Hi-Pass ace Park Jeong-ah, but the club has failed to seriously challenge anybody so far this campaign.

The Peppers will play their next game against the Hwaseong IBK Altos on Thursday at home.

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