User:Lovewhatyoudo/s6



The South Korea paralympic judo team's eyesight fraud  was a sports scandal occurred at the 2016 Paralympics, the 2014 and the 2018 Asian Para Games, all of which the South Korean national judo team won medals. To be eligible for these competitions, they were certified to suffer 0.02 vision and hence legally blind; while some actually had a perfect 1.0 eye vision, owned drivers' licenses and joined the military.

The fraud was first unveiled by South Korean television JTBC after South Korea winning 14 judo medals in the 2018 game. In December 2020, 13 South Korean national team judokas and their coach were criminally charged by the Korean prosecutors for untruthfully claiming the government's prize money of 1.2 billion won in competitions in 2014, 2016 and 2018. The governing bodies of the sport competitions has yet to conduct any investigation on their unsportsmanlike conduct.

Academic interest in para judo's eyesight




Reactions

 * International Paralympic Committee: ?
 * 日本視覚障害者柔道連盟の松下邦彦総務部長は「障害認定をめぐる不正は、視覚障害者柔道界において屈辱であり、視覚障害者柔道を見る周りの目が変わってしまうことはさみしいことだ」と話しています.
 * 日本パラ陸上競技連盟の指宿立 強化委員長は「韓国のほかの競技の選手に対しても疑いの目が向けられるだけでなく、すべての視覚障害の競技で出場資格が疑われることになりかねず、パラスポーツ全体の危機だ」

My work progress

 * Photo request: Photo of Korean eye examination chart (using native alphabet/symbols?)


 * Find competition record:
 * 2016 men paralympics: 90kg and +100kg (no wikipedia article)
 * 2016 women paralympics: no wikipedia articles for all weight class


 * Potential affected athletes
 * at Judo at the 2016 Summer Paralympics – Men's 81 kg
 * Jonathan Drane (GBR)
 * Eduardo Adrian Avila Sanchez (MEX)
 * Judo at the 2016 Summer Paralympics – Men's 100 kg
 * Yordani Fernandez Sastre (CUB)
 * Antônio Tenório Silva (BRA)

Only English news source
South Korean media say a former coach for South Korea's national Paralympic judo team has been indicted for fraudulently accepting government prize money by having able-bodied athletes lie about their eyesight.

The Chosun Ilbo newspaper and other South Korean media said a district prosecutors' office in Seoul indicted the former head coach on Tuesday, along with 13 athletes.

The Paralympic rules set a certain level of visual acuity for judoka to qualify.

The former coach allegedly chose national team members after telling them to obtain medical certificates by lying about their eyesight.

The athletes won many medals in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics, the 2014 Asian Paralympics in Inchon and the 2018 Asian Paralympics in Jakarta.

The prosecutors allege that the athletes and their coach illegally received a total of 120 million won, or about 110,000 dollars, in bonuses from the government in recognition of those achievements.

An official of South Korea's Paralympic Committee told NHK that until recently, athletes were not required to present government-issued disability certificates when they applied to compete in international events. The official said the organization is implementing tighter screening, including requiring athletes to obtain such certificates.

Category:2016 Summer Paralympics Category:2014 Asian Para Games Category:2018 Asian Para Games