Before anything else, we’d like to thank yeon-koung-fan.blogspot.it for all the updates and translations in regards to Kim’s forgettable experience with various Korean volleyball entities.

October 22nd, 2012: Kim is Free!

“Finally today the ITC was issued. I will be able to be on the courts again starting tomorrow. I am overwhelmed with joy that it brings tears to my eyes. Thank you so much to Chairman Yim Tae-hee, Vice chairman Park Sung-min, Ministry of Culture, Korea Sports Council, Korean Volleyball Association official Jung Sae-kyun, Congressmen Choi Min-hee, Noh Woong-Rae, Choi Jae-chun, Jun Byung-heon, to all the fans and so many people who love me and made an effort.

I will play my hardest to make Republic of Korea better known to the world.

I will make it up to you. Please keep watching me.

Sincerely,
Republic of Korea Womens Volleyball player Kim Yeon-Koung”

October 20th, 2012

Kim spotted at the airport a day after the press conference.

KOVO Press Conference

KOVO Vice President, Park Sung-Min:

This agenda today, in this situation where no specific decision or other decisions have been made, we’re saying according to our KOVO’s rules, her original club is Heungkuk Life. When FIVB makes a decision at the level of the federation, that will accordingly decide whether she is transfer or free agent.

The athlete and our club all have said to follow that and in regard to us having private conversation with the athlete and also because she needs to play without any inconveniences, we, KVA, will personally inquire the federation to get the results in the nearest future. And this event today was able to take place because we have agreed to follow the (international) federation’s decision.

If I may add, as I’ve said, to say she’s a transfer is exercising the club’s rights and if it is decided she’s a free agent, then it is common sense the athelete contact the club directly as an FA.

So, now at this moment, because there have not been any decisions made, we recognize the original club as HKL, and if FIVB makes their decision, we can follow and decide according to that basis.

KVA President, Yim Tae-Hee:

The athlete and both side’s point is this.

KVA will take a balanced and objective point of view regarding this situation and will take the initiative to try to find a nexus. We will respect FIVB’s decision as final, and the honorable FIVB’s decision will be received actively by KVA, and according to that decision respect both parties(Kim and HKL). This, from my point of view, is very important for today.

If this was not the case, this conflict would have run parallel and later would have developed into a difficult situation to resolve themselves for the parties at stake. Regarding this issue, both sides had their point of view but have stepped back a little to conclude FIVB’s official decision asked by KVA will be followed.

But before that, although Kim Yeon-koung currently has decided for herself that she is FA and has formed a contract, has accepted the idea of KVA regarding local rules about the club important. However, even if the current local rules and thing are like that, looking at the international practice nowadays, if a different interpretation is made, if in the federation’s (KVA) official inquiry for the opinion and explanation process gives that decision, we are saying that we will honor that point.

Today, regarding the final solution that will be made by both parties, we have agreed on the process, we want you to think about this significance.

We will take this process and going forward, KVA will take responsibility and preside regarding the main point.

October 19th, 2012

Kim’s Official Statement:

“I feel bad that I should be sharing good news as an athlete to the Korean people, but I am not able to. I want to be an athlete who can give happiness on the courts to the Korean people, and I believe I will be able to do so. I want to play in the international scene. Like the soccer star Ji Sung Park who is actively playing abroad, I want to make my name known internationally and also make Korea better known. That is my dream heading forward, and I wish to play internationally.

I want to come back again. I want to teach our juniors and other people the advanced volleyball I learn abroad.

I want to thank Heungkuk Life for supporting me up till now, and I also want to say that I will come back and repay my gratitude.

Since starting volleyball at the age of 10, I didn’t grow much in height and went through a period where I contemplated whether or not to continue volleyball. After that, I have never been lazy or tried to look for other ways.

Although I’m going though hard times now because I can’t compete, I have nothing to set my eyes on but volleyball. That’s because I am a volleyball player. I am the happiest when I’m standing on the court. For the last time, I ask sincerely.

Thank you fans who love me. I will make it up to you.

Thank you.”

Congresswoman Choi Min-Hee Defends Kim

Congresswoman Choi Min-Hee addressing Korea Sports Council President, Park Yong-Sung:

Choi stated that in 2011, KVA took 23% of it’s funds from the government and should be regulated by the people. She iterated according to Korean regulations Kim is not an FA in Korea because of the 6-season rule and if she were to try to move to another club within the Korean league she cannot, but according to international regulations she is. She mentioned within the Korean regulations article 10, regarding foreign employment, it states international regulations should be followed and asked him to review her analyzed documents.

She said Kim was an international FA as of June 30th, and later on signed a contract with a Turkish club. Kim was supposed to leave for Turkey by Sept 8, but was not granted her ITC by KVA. She asked why it wasn’t issued, and Park said it wasn’t within his jurisdiction. He clarified that KVA is not responsible for the decision. It’s actually KOVO that makes the decision, but because FIVB only approves of KVA as the official body, they just do whatever KOVO tells them to do. (KVA – amateur such as Olympics, KOVO – pro league)

She continued by saying, the issue got complicated because KVA as the mediator did not stay neutral and created a temporary agreement on Sept 7th with the understanding it would be kept confidential. But KVA sent this document to FIVB via email as the content below. She expressed that she was very surprised to read this email.

She pointed out that when KVA sent this email to FIVB, HKL was CC-ed to reference but Kim was not included so she didn’t know it was even sent. The content was written very unfavorably to Kim, and she can only interpret this as almost a threat to FIVB. She read the last paragraphs out loud iterating that KVA told FIVB siding with Kim can bring negative implications to the Korean league, and there was negative press on her playing in Fenerbahce at the pre-season tournament. She said she tried to look for this news report but could not find any regarding this matter.

She concluded by saying Kim should be allowed to be free to make her country proud, but her issue was caused by KVA’s inability to execute things properly. She asked the president to review KVA’s actions meticulously and requested that he report the solution to improve as soon as possible.

Congressman Jung Sae-kyun talked about Kim as well and addressed the president. He argued that this problem was caused by the Korean league not being on par with the international regulations and expressed regret. He made the comparison that Korea is top 10 in the world economically and was ranked top 5 in the Olympics, shouldn’t Korea as a developed country be on par with the rest of the world?

Jung said they let her play in the Olympics and as soon as that was over banned her. He believes this issue was caused by the discrepancy between Korean and international regulations, and this should not threaten to end an athlete’s career. He requested that the council can’t just try but should show results. (His kinda dragged on, so here’s a short summary)

Park said the Korean Sport Council intend to meet with KVA and KOVO regarding this matter on Monday, Oct 22nd.

More from the hearing…

This is Choi Jae-chun. Before me, many of congressmen/women questioned about athlete Kim Yeon-koung who has been getting a lot of attention from the fans and the Korean people. I want to also talk about that point in terms of the problems and alternatives. If I ask you for an answer, please reply only then.

First, I want to ask. Is Kim Yeon-koung an object?

No.

I want to ask our sports affiliates, the council president and everyone. Is she an object?

No.

No, right?

The Court of Arbitration of Sport which you probably know well has a precedent of saying something like this, “An athlete is not an object to buy or sell.” This is a very big prerequisite. But who uses this sentence? Turkey’s Fenerbahce writing to FIVB about Kim Yeon-koung’s problems was so frustrated to say “an athlete is not an object to buy or sell,” referencing CAS’ precedent.

Slaves are the only people who can be bought or sold. We ourselves are making Kim Yeon-koung a slave. I’m concerned about that.

Amateur volleyball players are under the Korean Volleyball Association(KVA)’s jurisdiction, and under the Korean Sport Council(KSC) jurisdiction, right?

Yes.

The professional players are under the Korean Volleyball Federation(KOVO)’s jurisdiction, right?

Yes, that’s right.

There are two entities. Heungkuk Life(HKL) is under KOVO, right?

(nods)

And Kim Yeon-koung, was under HKL, she is not right now, I state clearly that she is not, when she is on the national team or going to the London Olympics falls under KVA, right?

Yes, that’s right.

But, the International Volleybal Federation(FIVB) that has juristiction over volleyball all over the world only allows one organization per country, so KOVO which has jurisdiction over Korean professional volleyball has not enlisted, and KVA is a member, right?

Yes.

This is where the serious problem happens right now, right?

Yes, that’s right.

Right? Therefore, KOVO are supposed to inquire about their affiliate players, but because they are not members of the international federation, KVA is doing it instead, right?

Yes, that’s right.

KVA thefore doesn’t have the authority but through a complete neutral position has to act out as the role of the representative, right?

Yes.

But the problem is that KVA takes lead on an agreement. As we all know in our civil law’s article 104, if a person out of pressing situation or without experience creates an unjust contract, it is void.

Well, Kim Yeon-koung had to leave for the champs league. Since April, her club kept saying ‘come, come’ but she couldn’t go. They said if she signed the document, they’ll let her go. They don’t even allow the agent to come in. They opened up a press conference. She’s not familiar with the laws. In this situation, KVA said they’ll preside and gathers people, all the press, and tells her to sign. They say if you do this, we’ll let you go.

Would she sign or not? How can she not?

Now, at this time, they make another agreement. They say this will only be used internally. If she fills this out, they’ll let her leave, that they will not take advantage of it. But then they send this document.

What kind of scam is this? Huh?

They use her situation, use her naiveness, use her legal inexperience and create a clearly unfair contract, and deceive her, submit this to FIVB and get the decision they want.

This is wrong, do you understand? We need to press on this.

Yes.

Of course, KOVO’s FA regulation itself is very unfavorable. It may apply to domestic FA, but in comparison to the international FA, it is unfair, right? Also, if the regulations are not fair, the benefit of the player and the club should be equally considered, but KVA, although it’s not even in their place, side with KOVO, and furthermore only think of HKL the company’s benefits, only think of HKL the club’s benefits and only think about, sorry to say this, HKL the conglomerate.

All legal contracts should be fair. The scale needs to form a balance.

But they use her pressing situation, use her naiveness, use her legal inexperience, and to make things worse, KVA has regulated that hiring an agent is illegal. Then who should Kim Yeon-koung trust and depend on? Right? That’s where the problem occurred. Who should she go and appeal to?

Athletes, as you well know, are not protected by the law. KVA keeps recruiting and using her in the national team, but when things like this happens, sides with HKL. And KOVO always sides with the companies.

What kind of unfair treatment is this?

I mean how bad is it that netizens are coming to me with a petition to help the athlete? This should be said loud and clear.

Kim Yeon-koung is not an object. She is not an object to be bought or sold. It is not a matter of possession, do you understand?

Now, I want to talk a little about KVA.

In support for the London Olympics, the council gave KVA 200 million won. Do you know what they used the money for? In the name of a sending off party, they spent 80 million won at the Rivera Hotel. Do you know how much they used for the national team? They used just 40 million won.

Kim Yeon-koung’s height was 192(cm). Including her, most of KVA’s players are plus or minus 190(cm). These athletes, on their 12-hour long flight to go to London, do you know what they were on? They were in economy class. Kim Yeon-koung has a torn knee and is not in good condition either.

Those athletes went up to the semifinals. They didn’t have a team doctor. And it was mentioned with fencing before, but they didn’t have translators.

Who is KVA for? Huh?

At other times, because they’re under KOVO, the companies control them however they want, possess and make them subject to tradings, and when they’re in the Olympics enforce them to sacrifice for the country and honor without proper treatment.

The council has authority over its affiliate associations for business and accounting audits, but in reasons of respecting the independence of the association, and because the association president is in office of the Korean President’s Secretary, don’t intervene in any way. Do you understand?

For instance, KVA bought their building spending 17.1 trillion won. They borrow 13.1 trillion won from the bank. Right now the bank’s loan interest is monthly 52 million won. They are going completely bankrupt. No one is supervising.

Next, in 2009, the director of the youth national team uses the training funds for his credit card payment. Training funds are for the athletes, but he uses it for his personal reasons. You leave them alone.

Also, the individual who assaulted the national team’s famous Park Chul-woo(soccer) still remains in the association. And as I mentioned before, the association mediates with a biased point of view regarding Kim Yeon-koung’s transfer, not putting any importance on neutrality and her honor as a national team member, only side with KOVO, the company and club. And they deceive her. Then the association breaks their promise, even though there were witnesses present, submit the agreement to FIVB and don’t even tell her.

This is a tragedy.

I’ll start from the beginning. The Court of Arbitration of Sport’s precedent declares, “An athlete is not an object to buy or sell.” I acknowledge the regulations are unfair. From now on, we need to create regulations, create contracts and revise the FA regulations sending athletes abroad. The first person recipient of this should be Kim Yeon-koung, and I earnestly ask the Korea Sport Council and the president that this athlete’s sacrifice and devotion, her honor, be restored properly.

Yes, I understand.

October 16th, 2012

Kim Yeon-koung “To sue through Court of Arbitration for Sport”

“I will reveal everything through the press conference on the 19th”

Korean volleyball’s ‘big gun’ Kim Yeon-koung(24) expressed that she is very upset at FIVB’s decision to state her as a player for Heungkuk Life and not a free agent and said she may go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport(CAS) to get the right resolution.

In an interview on the 16th with Yeonhap News Kim said, “I think the FIVB made the decision that I’m Heungkuk’s player because they did not have the right documents.” and also that “I need to confirm that KVA has passed on the right documents to the FIVB.”

She said “I intend to find out why the FIVB made the wrong decision,” strongly emphasizing that “I’m thinking of going to CAS to reclaim my rights.” She also told if possible she will try to resolve the issues before going to CAS but will fight till the end to get the right decisions.

Kim has followed the Turkey Fenerbahce club participating in the ‘Club World Championships 2012’ and is currently staying in Doha, Qatar. Kim did not get her ITC issued, so she cannot play in the games.

She will return to Korea on the 18th and plans to hold a press conference the next day on the 19th to explain her situation in detail.

Interview:

How are you feeling right now?

It’ll be a lie to say I’m not frustrated. When I see the other teammates playing, I want to play together, and I’m also sad.

The FIVB notified that “Kim is Heungkuk Life’s player” to KVA. You are saying you cannot accept this.

I think the FIVB made the decision that I’m Heungkuk’s player because they did not have the right documents. I need to confirm that KVA has passed on the right documents to the FIVB.

To resolve this issue, what are you plans?

First of all, I intend to find out why the FIVB made the wrong decision. I’m thinking of going to CAS to recaim my rights.

What are you thinking of approaching CAS?

I have not made any plans yet. If it is possible, I’m trying to resolve the issues before going to CAS.

What does Fenerbahce club think?

Fenerbahce also thinks it’s a shame that I cannot participate in the games. They also seem upset that I couldn’t play in such an important competition. If anything, they don’t understand the actions of KVA and Heungkuk Life. Fenerbahce will try every way possible to help me get the right decision.

There’s talk of retirement or naturalization to another country.

I think what I said became blown up. As a citizen of Republic of Korea, it is true I have had a lot of distress through this incident, and on one hand thought if other country’s players are playing good and well internationally, why am I the only one going through such pain. But I am a citizen of Korea and so I have not thought of naturalizing to another country.

Please say a word to the fans.

I don’t think I could have had this courage without the support from the fans and people in Korea. I will fight till the end and get the correct decision. And I intend to play actively in the courts with their encouragement. So please keep rooting for me.

Online Petition For Kim

Title your email name/country/email address and send to ghhlf@naver.com

October 15th, 2012

FIVB’s decision to Kim (in reality) is allowing a dual contract?

This is an abbreviated version of the situation so far:

1. Heung Kuk Life – Kim’s contract ends (June 30, 2012)
2. Fenerbahce – Kim’s contract is made (July 6, 2012) with her status as FA
3. During the Fener – Kim contract signing (July 6), FIVB verbally confirmed
there was no issue with the contract
4. In addition, in Doha few days ago, during the discussion btw FIVB – Kim, they confirmed
she was already an FA when she signed the contract(July 6)
5. Therefore, FIVB confirms Fener – Kim’s contract is valid (past and present)
6. After that, HKL – Kim create an agreement (regarding her affiliation, no contract)
7. And based on the agreement, FIVB tells Kim to follow the agreement
8. As a result, Kim becomes HKL’s player

This is the development till now.

And in this process the logic FIVB uses is this:

1. Even if the club – player have a valid contract
2. if the player and another club have an agreement
3. the agreement triumphs the contract with the original club

If this is the reasoning, this scenario may happen to the world of volleyball. For example:

1. athlete A signs with club X
2. but afterwards, athlete A and club W make an agreement
3. FIVB has history of favoring 2 more than 1 (Kim’s case)
4. then athlete A becomes club W’s player
5. in other words, the contract with club X becomes useless, and they lose athlete A

And just looking at the final results:

1. this situation is similar to having a dual contract
2. therefore, if FIVB does not change their decision made between HKL-Kim’s conflict
3. FIVB themselves are consenting to an ambiguous dual contract

Finally:

1. FIVB already confirmed the validity of contract btw Fener – Kim (past and present)
2. in that case, Kim was Fener’s player and they have possession
3. but when agreement btw HKL – Kim was made, Fener wasn’t included (no mention
of their name or signature in the document)
4. so, HKL – Kim have made an agreement w/o her affiliate club’s consent
5. in conclusion, Fener can claim the agreement w/o their consent is invalid

October 12th, 2012

Kim Speaks Up!

In her most recent interview, Kim admits the entire circus is stressing her out. With the FIVB’s decision to recognize her as a “player” of Heungkuk, she fears her future with Fenerbahce is getting jeopardize.

As a result, she plans on retiring from the Korean National Team and might even entertain the idea of getting naturalized for another country like Turkey.

Here’s the full translation of the audio interview from yeon-koung-fan.blogspot.com:

Termed volleyball’s Messi, Korean volleyball’s leading star Kim Yeon-koung is in a very awkward position right now. The Korean Volleyball Association has concluded she is Heungkuk Life’s transfer player not a free agent.

This means rather than having free status, she will need to return to Heungkuk Life after two years and play more. Consequently, Kim Yeon-koung expressed on her twitter that she does not approve of this.

This situation is very complicated. We thought it would be the most accurate to hear in her own words, so we’ve connected on-site to Turkey. We will try to dial to Kim Yeon-koung who is currently playing for Fenerbahce Universal*.

*I think she was misinformed here. Fenerbahce doesn’t have a sponsor this year, so they are just fenerbahce without the universal.

Kim Yeon-koung are you there?

Ah yes, hello

It’s almost 3 in the morning there right now. It’s hard to fall asleep tonight isn’t it?

Yes, I can’t fall asleep. Everyday things keep happening, so to listen to those I haven’t been sleeping much.

I think we should explain to the listeners what’s going on right now. First, you have entered Heungkuk Life in 2005.

Yes.

You played nationally for 4 years, then starting in 2009 played internationally as a transfer player for 3 years, in total of 7 years.

Yes.

The problem is whether or not this qualifies you to get free agent status, isn’t it?

According to national rules, it’s correct there’s 2 years left. There’s no clause that says it includes the transfer periods. There’s nothing like that in Korean volleyball, so that’s right. However if I play abroad, if I come out overseas, whether or not I become free is what we’ve talked to the FIVB about.

So if the condition is that you need to play at a club for 6 years to become free, according to international regulation this includes both national and international playing, but according to our national practice only playing in Korea counts. It’s like that, right?

Yes, that’s right. It’s like that.

Ah. So Heungkuk’s saying ‘we only count the national so we can’t let you go!’

Yes. Because they said in Korea they follow the local rules, that’s what they’re thinking.

So it was just running parallel for a while, and within that time you’ve played in the Olympics and got the MVP and all that, the Korean Volleyball Association stepped in as the mediator.

Yes.

And so the KVA, Heungkuk Life and Kim Yeon-koung got together and wrote an agreement?

Yes.

What is the content of that agreement?

Well, there was something about coming back to Heungkuk after 2 years, but IF the FIVB makes a decision, it says we will follow that.

I see.

When we were talking about it, we made a promise the document will not be used officially, and they weren’t supposed to use it, but Heungkuk and KVA sent it to the FIVB, and after FIVB saw it, they concluded that the player is also agreeing, so the poor decision came out.

So at first glance, this mediated agreement seems more favorable to Heungkuk, but the reason why you, Kim Yeon-Koung, signed it was because something else will come later? What happened?

In that situation, they said they won’t send me to Turkey.

Yes.

And because I needed to go back to Turkey to practice, since I have a contract with them, the team was telling me to return quickly, but the situation was that I couldn’t go. So to do that I had to write it and go. It was the last resort, no longer..

So if you waited, you couldn’t go back to Turkey when you had to play there right away because their league is starting, and since that was just an interim thing, not a complete contract,
you signed it.

Yes, it wasn’t complete, and they said it will not be officially notified, so I did it.

I mean, the association made a promise to not use it officially. To not expose it. Let’s just keep it to ourselves for now.

Yes. When we talk to the FIVB, we’re not approaching them with this and just talk about the Korean regulations to see whether or not I’m free, question that…

Yes.

I trusted that and thought they would do only that, but Heungkuk or the association knew if they left it at that they would lose, so they submitted the agreement.

So the situation was getting to complicated, so you made an interim agreement, and when the FIVB gives their interpretation, you thought it would be overturned, didn’t you?

Yes, just according to regulations, I should win.

According to international regulations..

We talked to the FIVB even today, and they said according to the regulations, it’s correct you, Kim Yeon-koung, are free. But after seeing the agreement, they said because you have signed the agreement, didn’t you acknowledge.

That’s what they’re saying right now.

Then, this interim agreement, temporary agreement that was supposed to just hold off the situation, how did this get sent to the FIVB?

Truthfully I was a bit dumbfounded. I didn’t even know if it went or not. To not expose the document, the association was supposed to have one copy.

Oh, let’s just keep it to ourselves. It’s not decided, saying stuff like that.

Yes, so to not expose the document, we only made one copy and the association was supposed to keep it, the fact they released it, really, i feel let down and was really baffled.

I see. Now you’ve returned to your club, but i heard you can’t play currently.

That’s right. Starting the 15th in Qatar, there’s a big event called the club world championship happening. If I don’t get ITC, international transfer certificate, by tomorrow 7 o’clock here, I can’t play. So I really need to get it, but I’m not sure what
will happen.

You’re saying you need the transfer certificate to play at the championships, so whether that transfer certificate will come out or not hasn’t been decided yet?

Yes. So we’re thinking a lot of things, and trying to try different things

Yes.

But I’m not sure what will happen.

When you say you’re trying different things, what are you going to do to get the transfer certificate?

We want to ask the FIVB if there was no agreement, what would have happened? Is the player Kim Yeon-Koung free? If the agreement wasn’t there.

Please make a decision again without thinking about the agreement.

Yes. We need to talk to them once again and try to get that.

Yes, so you’re saying you’re going to ask for a reconsideration. If, by slight chance, things don’t go well, (sigh) are you thinking of that situation?

Now, there may be chance Fenerbahce might give up on me.

Even in Turkey?

Really I don’t know. For now, to refocus and play again might be hard and I’ve gotten hurt a lot emotionally.

Retirement? Are you thinking about it?

In a way, to even consider retirement in Korea, I think it’s an important period for me.

Umm, the netizens and fans are really angry too, and they’re saying you should retire from Korea and go to Turkey, home of volleyball, and grow more as a player. They even say things like that.

I haven’t thought about naturalizing to another country and things like that yet. Because I am a Korean, and I love Korea. But until now, I’ve played in the national team and even when I’ve tried really hard to think that volleyball (association) hasn’t done
anything for me, it is really sad.

I understand. Kim Yeon-koung, you are a world star, a big star, but if we look at it another way, you’re just a lady in your 20s, going through such heartache i feel sorry. The reconsideration results, we hope to hear good news. Thank you for today’s interview in such difficult times.

Yes. Thank you.

We’ve dialed to Turkey. It was volleyball player Kim Yeon-koung.

FYI: The interview might sound a bit redundant and the interviewer is playing dumb but you have to realize volleyball is not a popular sport in Korea although the girls did a fantastic job in the Olympics and have made themselves better known. This is a public radio program where the general public may not know what’s going on. Also regarding the interviewer who keeps calling Yeon-Koung by her full name. As some of you may know Korean has formal and informal speech. If you’re talking to anyone on air you have to use formal speech saying their entire name is considered respectful and usually it’s followed by a suffix. In an athlete’s case, it’s literally the word ‘athlete’ after the name so you’ll hear her referring to her as Kim Yeon-Koung sun-soo..

October 11th, 2012

Kim’s drama continues…

It looks like she is left with NO choice but to skip the 2012 Club World Champions to be held in Doha, Qatar with her Turkish club team, Fenerbahce.

According to our source:

Kim’s former Korean club team, Heungkuk, claims that Kim’s contract with Fenerbahce is NOT valid and playing for the team without FIVB clearance is a major, major violation of the FIVB rules. “It is seriously illegal that she moved to Fenerbahce without a permission from her Heungkuk. Fenerbahce did not check about her status following FIVB rules, and it has not been done yet. Kim has participated in various club tournaments with Fenerbahce WITHOUT the transfer certificate from the Korean Volleyball Association (KVA).” ” according to our source.

“The FIVB rule clearly states that players who compete for their professional clubs without the ITC or transfer certificate will be suspended from playing with his or her national team for one year.” adds the source.

Oh No!

Kim moved to Turkey last September 8th and she has now been playing for her team despite the contract dispute from her former club team.

“Kim believes that is now a “free agent” while Heungkuk claims that is “on a loan” to play for other teams, ie Fenerbahce.

Per Heungkuk, the MVP of the 2012 Olympics only spent 4 seasons in Korea’s domestic league so she cannot consider herself as a “free agent” because you can only be a “free agent” player if she has played 6 seasons. She has played 3 seasons aboard (Japan and Turkey) but only as a “player on a loan” to play for other teams with our permission.

On the other hand, Kim’s camp states that she can not play in the domestic league since she is categorized as an option secession player but can play abroad since she is considered as a free agent. Therefore two year of contract with Fenerbahce is still valid.

Heungkuk posed another problem when transferring a document to Fenerbahce. They translated the document as ‘The Final Decision by Korea Volleyball Association” on the International Transfer Certificate of Kim instead of “Agreement on the International Transfer of Kim Yeon-Koung”. Heungkuk’s excuse is that it was a mistake and it was not intended to fabricate the official documents.

Korean Federation has asked the assistance of the FIVB to help settle the drama and contract dispute.

As of press time, it appears that Heungkuk is indeed correct with their legal claims which leaves the FIVB to EXCLUDE Kim from competing at the Club Championships which kicks off on October 13th. The FIVB has not granted Kim her ITC which means she might be prohibited from competing with Fenerbahce in the near future and/or she might also be suspended for 1 year due to breach of contract.

SADDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!

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FREE KIM!

FREE KIM!

FREE KIM!