Korean curlers say coaches subjected them to abuse

SEOUL The Garlic Girls, South Korea’s hugely popular Olympic silver-medallist curlers, accused their coaches Thursday of ruining the team with abusive treatment in a dispute that has spoiled one of the year’s feel-good sports stories.

The women’s claims, if confirmed, suggest a familiar tale of abuse, corruption and nepotism that has regularly marred South Korea’s highly hierarchical elite sports scene. Men often run South Korean sports efforts and while the team’s head coach is a woman, men in her family, including her father, a former leading figure in South Korean curling, play a prominent part in the accusations of abuse.

“We can no longer work with a coaching staff that is trying to divide the team,” Kim Seon-yeong said at news conference in Seoul. The players also accused the coaching staff of skipping training sessions, holding back prize money and trying to force a married member off the team.

“We need a coaching staff that can train and lead us properly. We want to continue our curling careers and aim for bigger goals at the Beijing Olympics,” Kim said.

The news conference came a day after South Korea’s sports ministry and National Olympic Committee announced a joint investigation into allegations that became public after the athletes sent a letter outlining their complaints to sports authorities last week.

The curlers said the coaches withheld prize money and tried to sideline married captain Kim Eun-jung after learning of her plans to start a family. They said the coaches also tried to force Kim Cho-hee off the team ahead of the Olympics to open a spot for head coach Kim Min-jung to participate as an athlete.

They also said they had to endure a tirade from former executive Kim Kyung-doo after they decided to stick with their teammate.