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Lotte professional baseball pitcher Seung-Jun Song was severely sanctioned with a 72-game suspension for possession of banned substances. Song Seung-jun complained of injustice and said he would take legal action.
This is the exclusive report by Reporter Yoo Byung-min.
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Song Seung-jun has been under investigation four years ago on charges of receiving banned substances from his then-colleague Lee Yeo-sang.
Song Seung-jun was deceived by Lee Yeo-sang's words that it was a nutritional supplement, and later found out that it was a banned substance, and claimed innocence, saying that he returned it without taking it or purchasing it.
However, the Korea Anti-Doping Agency (KADA) imposed a 72-game suspension for Song Seung-jun, saying that there was no evidence that he returned the banned substance even if he had not taken it.
This is the highest level of disciplinary action like Choi Kyung-cheol, who was caught taking banned substances in 2017.
Song Seung-jun acknowledged the mistake of not reporting after receiving the banned substance, but said that he would take legal action against it, saying that the severe punishment for taking the drug was excessive.
[Song Seung-jun/Lotte Pitcher: I'm really sorry that I got caught up in something like this. There is an unfair part, and I will do my best to reveal what I can reveal.] As
he announced his retirement at the end of this season, the effectiveness of the disciplinary action is not great, but Song Seung-jun's position is that he cannot accept this discipline as it is.
(Video coverage: Seol Seol-hwan, video editing: Oh Young-taek)