The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee has placed a reconsideration of the six-month competition ban imposed on the Baejae High School baseball team on the agenda for the next Sports Fair Trade Commission meeting, set for Monday.
The committee made the decision Tuesday at a Fair Trade Commission subcommittee meeting, saying the commission "serves as the final appellate body for disciplinary actions by affiliated organizations and will reach a conclusion on the day of the hearing." Any revised ruling takes effect immediately upon the commission's vote.
The commission's decision will determine whether the Baejae High School baseball team can compete in the 54th Bonghwang Cup National High School Baseball Championship. The Bonghwang Cup opens Aug. 6 and is in effect the last national tournament Baejae can enter this year. The outcome of the reconsideration — and whether the team is cleared to play — will directly affect the third-year student athletes' college admissions prospects and chances of entering professional baseball.
The controversy began when some Baejae players chanted "Let's go, let's go, let's go to Starbucks" and "Tank Day" toward the opposing dugout during a June 29 game against Gwangju First High School at Mokdong Baseball Stadium in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, at the 81st Cheongnyonggi National High School Baseball Championship. The chants sparked accusations of mocking the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement.
In response, the Korea Baseball Softball Association's Sports Fair Trade Commission voted July 1 to impose a six-month competition ban on the Baejae baseball team and forfeit the team's remaining matches in the Cheongnyonggi tournament.
With some public sympathy emerging for Baejae and Gwangju First High School itself requesting leniency, Baejae filed for reconsideration of the six-month ban with the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee's Fair Trade Commission on Wednesday. If the commission reduces the penalty to a suspension of one month or less, the Baejae baseball team would be eligible to compete in the Bonghwang Cup. Separately from the reconsideration process, Baejae has also filed for an injunction to suspend the effect of the six-month ban.
addressh@heraldcorp.com
