Korea Volleyball Federation Imposes 5-Year Suspension on Ex-Coach for Sexual Misconduct

A former coach of the professional women's volleyball team JungKwanJang, who caused controversy over sexual misconduct against a player, has received a heavy disciplinary penalty of a 5-year suspension.

The Korea Volleyball Federation (KOVO) announced that it held a disciplinary committee yesterday and imposed a 5-year suspension on former JungKwanJang Coach A.

This disciplinary action follows a sexual misconduct incident that emerged during a team dinner for JungKwanJang players during the All-Star break in January.

After becoming aware in May of the fact that Coach A had engaged in inappropriate behavior toward a player at the time, JungKwanJang separated the individuals involved and reported the matter to KOVO and the Korea Sports Ethics Center.

The Korea Sports Ethics Center investigated the case and requested disciplinary action against Coach A and former JungKwanJang Head Coach Ko Hee-jin. The KOVO disciplinary committee determined the level of punishment after reviewing explanations from the parties involved, statements from witnesses, and related materials.

The disciplinary committee judged that Coach A's actions constituted a grave anti-social act related to sexual misconduct, deciding on a 5-year suspension in accordance with the federation's disciplinary regulations.

However, the committee concluded that the actions of former JungKwanJang Head Coach Ko Hee-jin, who was reviewed for disciplinary action together, did not constitute sexual misconduct.

The committee determined that former Head Coach Ko's inappropriate speech and behavior in an inappropriate location amounted to "other acts damaging to dignity."

Accordingly, considering the degree and circumstances of the behavior, as well as his past conduct and contributions, a warning and a fine of 3 million won were imposed on former Head Coach Ko.

Former Head Coach Ko, who was present at the dinner at the time, is known to have stated that he did not witness Coach A's actions, and he had been excluded from club duties since May.

JungKwanJang issued an official apology in July, and former Head Coach Ko voluntarily resigned in August to take responsibility for the incident.

Subsequently, JungKwanJang appointed former Heungkuk Life Insurance Head Coach Kwon Soon-chan as its new skipper on October 6.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.