S. Korean youth handball team disqualified from competition over match-throwing charges
SEOUL, Sept. 21 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean men's under-19 handball team has been disqualified from an Asian competition over charges of match throwing.
The Asian Handball Federation (AHF) said it kicked South Korea and Iraq out of the Asian Men's Youth Handball Championship in Amman, Jordan, on Wednesday, a day after they tried to lose their game and set up a favorable draw in the quarterfinals.
There were 14 teams divided into four groups in the preliminary round, and the top two nations from each group were to reach the second round. Those eight teams would then be paired into two groups of four, and the top two nations from each would advance to the semifinals.
South Korea and Iraq were in Group C with India and had already secured their spots in the second round after each defeated India. But both apparently wanted to avoid finishing at the top of Group C because it would mean a second round grouping with power houses Bahrain, Japan and Jordan. Bahrain and Jordan finished first and second at the 2016 championship.
"The game was suspended permanently due to the fact that both teams intentionally wanted to lose the match," the AHF said in a statement. "Both teams were manipulating the score and were warned twice to play handball and keep the spirits of handball."
The AHF said all prior results by the two nations at the competition have been wiped out and the incident will be discussed during the AHF Executive Committee meeting for further disciplinary action.
The Korea Handball Federation (KHF) said head coach Jang In-ik returned home on Thursday and will face investigation.
"We'll try to get to the bottom of the case and if the allegations turn out to be true, we'll sternly discipline individuals connected to the incident," the KHF said. "This is an extremely serious matter that should never occur again."
jeeho@yna.co.kr
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