Top sports body upholds ban on figure skater over sexual harassment charges

The top South Korean sports body on Friday upheld an earlier ban on a female figure skater over allegations she had sexually harassed an underage male teammate, rejecting her claims that she couldn't have harassed him because they were in a romantic relationship.

The Fair Play Commission at the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee confirmed the three-year ban issued by the Korea Skating Union in June on Lee Hae-in, the women's singles silver medalist at the 2023 world championships.

The KSU learned of the alleged sexual misconduct while investigating a separate claim that Lee and one of her female teammates, whose identity is being withheld, had consumed alcohol during their camp in Italy in May -- a violation of KSU rules.

The KSU did not initially identify Lee, but Lee did a television interview to claim her innocence and deny sexual harassment allegations.

Lee, 19, has repeatedly argued that there cannot be any grounds for sexual harassment for her action with her male teammate because they were in a relationship during the May training camp. She reiterated her stance before attending her appeals hearing in front of KSOC officials Thursday afternoon.

Lee also claimed that the KSU had deemed physical contact between the skaters to be abusive in nature because it hadn't been aware of Lee's relationship status.

However, the KSOC said it upheld the original ban, considering the age of Lee's boyfriend and other circumstances.

Lee's legal representatives said they will consider filling for a court injunction to nullify the validity of the KSU's suspension.

The ban will rule Lee out of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.

Separately, the KSOC also confirmed the KSU's one-year ban on Lee's female teammate for drinking during training camp and for taking sexually explicit photos of Lee.

The skater had appealed that the penalty was too harsh because she had not shown photos to anyone else but the KSOC rejected her claims. (Yonhap)