SEOUL, South Korea ● Four South Korean badminton players sent home in disgrace from the London Olympics for deliberately throwing matches have had their six-month domestic bans lifted by the Korean Olympic Committee.
Jung Kyung-eun, Kim Ha-na, Ha Jung-eun and Kim Min-jung remain suspended from the Korean national team for one year but they were now free to compete in domestic tournaments, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported.
The four women’s doubles players, along with a Chinese and Indonesian pair, were kicked out of the Games last month for trying to lose matches and gain favourable draws in the knockout stages, creating the biggest scandal in badminton’s 20 years as an Olympic sport.
South Korea’s badminton association initially suspended the players for two years while coach Sung Han-kook and assistant Kim Moon-soo were banned for life.
However, after an appeal the players’ bans were cut to six months while the coaches had their lifetime suspensions reduced to two years.
The KOC has also asked the players to submit written pledges not to get involved in similar cases in future.
The decision to lift the domestic bans came just days after Indonesian badminton doubles pair Greysia Polii and Meiliana Jauhari were banned for four months.
Chinese player Yu Yang announced her retirement from the sport in the fallout from the scandal.