South Korea to appeal to CAS over short track refereeing at Beijing 2022
Hwang Dae-heon and Lee June-seo were disqualified from the men's 1000 metres semi-finals at the Capital Indoor Stadium yesterday.
Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic 500m silver medallist Hwang was penalised after finishing first in his heat for an illegal late passing.
Lee was ruled out too after finishing second, for a lane change that caused contact with another skater.
Chinese skaters advanced as a result, with the host nation taking the gold and silver medals in the final.
"We will do our best to ensure our athletes won't be treated so unfairly in international skating and sporting communities," said KSOC in a statement.
KSOC lodged a complaint with the International Olympic Committee, the International Skating Union (ISU) and the chief referee after the races, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap News.
"Our decision to take the matter to the CAS also took into account the public sentiment," added KSOC.
"The people back home are extremely upset with such biased officiating.
"We decided that refereeing [in short track here] couldn't have support from the international sporting community, and we also wanted to shed light on the less-than-transparent relationship between International Federations and judges."
Presidential candidate from the ruling Democratic Party, Lee Jae-myung, took to social media to criticise the decision.
"I cannot hide my disappointment and anger at the biased refereeing in short track at the Beijing Winter Olympics," said Lee on Facebook.
"I hope our athletes will not be discouraged.
"You are the true winners for doing your best until the end with your skills."
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