2023-10-08 11:15:00
[앵커]
We will bring you an exclusive report.
Among sports for the visually impaired, there is an event called ‘Showdown’.
It is similar to ‘ping pong’, but it is a sport where you hit a sounding ball with a bat and throw it into the opponent’s side.
However, it was confirmed that disabled athletes who participated in the Showdown international competition filed a complaint claiming that they were subjected to verbal abuse and abuse by the coaches.
The Sports Ethics Center has begun an investigation into the truth, and this is what reporter Yoo-min Lee found out.
[리포트]
Six visually impaired athletes were selected to represent the national team ahead of the Birmingham Showdown International Competition held in late August in England.
He said he started training in July with an overwhelming heart, but his self-esteem collapsed following just two weeks.
The coaches’ harsh words started because they mightn’t handle physical training.
[한OO/선수/쇼다운 국가대표 : “너네 편하게 운동하는 거다, 너네가 이런 걸로 엄살 부리면 안 된다.”]
As time passed, the water level rose.
[이OO/선수/쇼다운 국가대표 : “니들은 단순히 눈 나쁜 게 아니네. 눈만 나쁘면 됐지 왜 막 여기저기 아파가지고.”]
When players with multiple disabilities or illnesses talked regarding their personal circumstances, they received even more verbal abuse.
[한OO/선수/쇼다운 국가대표 : “너네가 멀쩡한 데가 없어가지고 내가 훈련을 시킬 수가 없다, 시각 장애 말고도 왜 한 군데 멀쩡한 데가 없느냐.”]
[“START THE GAME.”]
The players said that they endured the humiliation and participated in the international competition, but following being eliminated in the preliminaries, they received verbal abuse that made them believe their ears.
[한OO/선수 : “비꼬는 말투로 ‘지들끼리 잘났다고 똥들을 싸대더니.’ 라는 말들을…”]
There are four coaches for the Showdown national team, all of whom are non-disabled.
After the international competition schedule was over, we had two days of free time, and left all six players with Coach A while the remaining three went sightseeing.
[A 코치 : “(선수들이) 말도 안 통하고 보이지도 않는데 어떻게 개인 일정을 할 수가 있을까요? 심지어 저한테 버려진 것 같다…”]
The coaches who were accused of using excessive verbal abuse and neglecting disabled athletes claimed that they were only trying to increase training effectiveness and that there was no verbal abuse.
[당시 국가대표 코치/음성변조 : “‘이것도 힘들어서 못 하면 어떻게 하냐’ 이것도 폭언 이라고 하면 ‘폭언’ 이라고 할게요.”]
The Sports Ethics Center began an investigation following receiving a complaint from six players and Coach A.
This is Lee Yu-min from KBS News.
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