KIA Tigers coach Kim Jong-kook was caught up in a shocking 'suspicion of receiving bribes.' The KIA club suspended coach Kim Jong-guk from his duties. This is news that comes as a surprise just before departure for the spring camp in Australia.

KIA said the club confirmed, “On January 25th, we confirmed that coach Kim Jong-guk was under investigation by the investigative authorities, and this was finally confirmed during a meeting with coach Kim Jong-guk on the 27th. “The club decided that he could not perform his duties normally as a manager while the investigation was ongoing, so we suspended him from his duties.”

The club then said, “The coach’s final move will be decided after observing the investigation situation, and the first team’s spring camp is planned to be held under Jin Gap-yong as head coach.” 

It was a shocking announcement from the KIA team ahead of their departure for the Australian spring camp. KIA will depart for Canberra, Australia on January 30 for the 2024 season spring camp. Before the players, the manager and coaching staff board a plane to Canberra, Australia, on the 29th. However, the team's head coach, Kim Jong-guk, faced the biggest negative news as he was unable to board the plane on the 29th.

Prior to this suspicion, coach Kim Jong-kook was also embroiled in suspicions of receiving bribes from an independent baseball team, which became a big issue in the baseball world. This was because Mr. A, a high-ranking executive of an independent baseball team belonging to Gyeonggi Province, was suspected of receiving bribes by taking advantage of his close relationship with manager Kim Jong-guk. It was alleged that he committed fraud by accepting bribes by delaying joining a KBO league team.

A KBO official said on January 12, “Mr. C, who retired from the B Independent Baseball Team in December of last year, reported related information to the KBO Clean Baseball Center. After looking into the report, he contacted the club, who explained that he had nothing to do with it. “This case is in the stage of being investigated by the police, so we will monitor the situation in the future.”

According to MK Sports coverage, when Mr. C was about to quit baseball in 2022, it was reported that Mr. A, who showed off his close relationship with coach Kim Jong-guk through his parents, demanded tens of millions of won as a condition for joining the training player.

Mr. A received money from Mr. C's parents several times, but Mr. C ended his career as a player without being able to join the KIA team. According to Mr. C's claim, Mr. A is known to have said that director Kim Jong-guk received the money given through Mr. C's parents.

At the time, the KIA team responded with absurdity. The KIA official said, “It is true that there is a close relationship between the executive and manager of the independent baseball team who are suspected of receiving bribes as they are acquaintances. However, he jumped and said, “The manager has never received money in exchange for a player joining.” Director Kim Jong-guk is also said to have strongly expressed his feelings of injustice.

However, it has been confirmed that this suspicion of bribery and the recent suspicion of bribery by the independent baseball team are separate incidents.

A KIA official said, “This incident is a separate issue from the suspicion of receiving bribes from the independent baseball team. I am embarrassed that something like this happened right before I left for spring camp. It is difficult for our club to talk about the details of the suspicion. “First of all, we plan to continue our own investigation,” he said.

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