The top South Korean baseball league said Tuesday it will open disciplinary proceedings against a club over recent instances of physical abuse involving its minor league players.
The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said the SSG Landers had reported cases of abuse by their players in the Futures League last Friday and submitted a detailed report Sunday.
"We're taking a close look into the situation, and we will hold a disciplinary hearing sometime next week," a KBO official said.
According to the league office, the incident happened Thursday inside the minor league team's training complex in the western city of Incheon.
A veteran player got upset with a rookie for unspecified reasons and gathered several younger players to give them a military-style, mass punishment. Afterward, one of those players struck the rookie in question with a baseball bat for causing such punishment.
Then a fourth player, after learning of the bat-swinging abuse, gathered junior players again for another round of group punishment.
According to the Landers, a minor league coach belatedly learned of the case after checking in on the rookie for any health issues.
"We would like to apologize for this unsavory incident," the Landers said in a statement. "As soon as we learned of the case, we separated the perpetrators and the victims. The offending players will be kept out of all team activities. We're fully cooperating with the KBO's investigation, and we will accept the findings of the disciplinary committee."
In July 2020, while the Landers were called the SK Wyverns under different ownership, four of their minor league players were penalized for hitting teammates and driving under the influence of alcohol. The Wyverns were also fined for not reporting the case to the league immediately.
Source: Yonhap News Agency