In light of recent abuse allegations raised against a coach of disabled athletes, the nation's top body for such athletes said Thursday it would set up a new department to look after abuse victims.
The Korea Sports Association for the Disabled (KOSAD) said the new department will be tentatively called "Disabled Athletes' Rights Protection Team." It will provide administrative support for the tentatively-named "Committee for Protection of Athletes' Rights and Interests," which will be made up of outside experts in human rights who will provide counseling for abuse victims. This committee is an organization independent of the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC), the nation's top sports body, officials said.
The KOSAD also said it will monitor individual sports federations for possible violations of the rights of disabled athletes. It added it will urge regional governing bodies for disability sports to tighten guidelines to prevent such abuses and to impose severe penalties for violations.
Earlier this month, a boccia athlete who competed at the recent London Paralympics accused his coach of physically abusing him over the past two years and of taking money from him to cover training expenses. Police are investigating the charges.
The KOSAD said this week it had confirmed some of the charges during its own international investigation and it would take steps to penalize the coach. (Yonhap)