S Korean badminton players banned
South Korean pairings accused of trying to lose matches at London 2012 receive reduced bans of six months after appeal.
The four South Korean badminton players who purposefully tried to lose their last group matches at the London Olympics will be banned for six months, officials said Wednesday.
The Korean badminton association officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly about the decision.
The association’s disciplinary committee had earlier proposed banning the two women’s doubles pairs from international and domestic play for two years after they were ejected from the Olympics for trying to deliberately lose in order to manipulate the knockout rounds.
The players appealed for leniency.
The punishment was lowered to six months on Wednesday because the original penalty was too harsh, the officials said.
The badminton association is to report its decision to the Korean Olympic Committee, the officials said.
The players’ two coaches are barred from working for the national team for four years, according to an association statement. The disciplinary committee had previously proposed expelling them from the association, which would have meant a ban on any formal badminton-related jobs.
Two other doubles teams, one each from China and Indonesia, were also kicked out of the Olympics for trying to lose matches.