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The International Gymnastics Federation will decide within the next 10 days when North Korea's gymnasts can return to competition following an age falsification case, an FIG spokesman told IG. The FIG's Disciplinary Commission has invited the North Korean federation's representatives to hearings Tuesday and Wednesday at the FIG headquarters in Lausanne.  Hong So Jong (North Korea) On Oct. 6, the FIG provisionally suspended the North Korean gymnastics federation for 30 days for suspicion of age falsification and false registration in the case of Hong Su Jong. The North Korean federation registered Hong, a 2004 Olympian, under three different birth years: 1985, 1986 and 1989. A birth year of 1989 — used to register Hong for the 2010 World Championships — would have made her ineligible for the 2004 Olympics. While the FIG's Disciplinary Commission investigated the case, the commission's president acted to provisionally suspend the federation for 30 days, preventing the team from competing at last week's world championships in Rotterdam. The North Korean federation immediately appealed the suspension, but it was rejected, and the team was unable to take part in Rotterdam. "The provisional suspension will expire on Nov. 8," the FIG's Philippe Silacci said. "The commission will made a decision prior to this date." At immediate stake is North Korea's participation in the 16th Asian Games, which begin Nov. 13 in Guangzhou, China. The North Korean women were second as a team at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, where Hong Su Jong also placed third all-around and first on uneven bars. The FIG's Disciplinary Commission will present its findings to the FIG Presidential Commission, which will determine if further disciplinary action is warranted. It is doubtful that the FIG would issue a substantial monetary fine to the North Korean federation, which at one time was suspended temporarily for being unable to pay its FIG dues. The Hong Su Jong case is North Korea's second offense. The FIG banned the North Korean women from competing at the 1993 World Championships after gymnast Kim Gwang Suk was registered as being 15 in 1989, 1990 and 1991. The FIG also could decide to strip Hong of the silver medal she won on vault at the 2007 World Championships, even though she was age eligible at the time, because of the "false registration." If Hong Su Jong's year of birth is confirmed to be 1989, it would mean she was registered using a falsified passport in Stuttgart, where her year of birth was listed as 1986. Hong's sister, Hong Un Jong, won the 2008 Olympic gold medal on vault. The latest birth date for Hong Su Jong confirms she and Un Jong are twins. What do you think the FIG should decide? Should the North Koreans face a longer ban for their second offense, and how long should it be? Tell us your thoughts below! Comments (15)
Tanya
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... They should be banned until 2013. It's unfair to the gymnasts, but this was blatant and also their second offense. |
Diane Lee
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... Well they should be punished harshly b/c they have done this before and also to be an example for other countries. If the FIG is not going to lift this STUPID age rule then they should punish countries very harshly. Personally I STILL THINK the age should go back to 15 in the year of the olypmics. There really is no way of enforcing this rule. They and other countries have been doing this for years and will continue to.. Sorry to say esp CHINA. They have great gymnast but they are clearly not age eigible.. |
Lora
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age rule I agree they should get rid of the age rule or at least bring it back down to 15. It's impossible to enforce and the FIG will continue to look like idiots when these cases come up. |
Diane Lee
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... Yes Laura I agree the FIG will look like idiots. However I really think they ARE idiots. Do they even likte gymnastics. I still want to know why they make all those STUPID changes they make. I have asked but I never get any answers?? Ok INTLGYMNAST MAG.. Why do they make those changes and what do they gymnast really think about them???? |
leo knoll
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... I don't feel it's fair to punish her in any way at all. It's not her fault. Put yourself in her shoes and imagine where she comes from. Have some compassion; Just let it go. Just let it go! |
Thiago Simões
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... It is just impossible for FIG to be completely certain of Un's and Su's birthdates correctly, so I think they should scrap their results altogether up to the 2008 Olympic Games because this is an offense to all gymnastics fans and to every country that accept the rules and comply with them. |
Stacy
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... It's the federation that is cheating and so the federation should be punished. Unfortunately the athletes have to suffer as well because that's the only way to punish the federation. |
leo knoll
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... Being from North Korea is punishment enough. Their federation doesn't have any control over this situation either. International competitions are probably a vacation for them. Please don't deprive these girls the few times they get a chance to travel and get a break from where they live. Let's ban together and give them a humanitarian pass. I'm sure if they had any power to change the situation the would. |
Lora
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... Being from North Korea is punishment enough? What planet are you from? If they want to take part in gymnastics, they have to play by the FIG's rules. And if they want to cheat like other countries do, at least don't be so stupid to keep changing her birthday! It's really not rocket science. The FIG's only choice is to punish PRK severely. It's sad for the gymnasts but as you say, they have worse problems. |
leo knoll
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... It's possible that this girl has no idea that this controversy even exists! It's also possible that she has never even seen her own passport because the head of the delegation holds all the passports for the team. I wouldn't be surprised if she was told that the world championships were canceled; never speculating that it could have anything to do with her age. You have to understand that these people are kept isolated from the outside world. No internet sevice at all. Zero contact. Please do not vilify her! |
Lora
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... Nobody is vilifying Hong or even suggesting she is at fault. Everybody knows how North Korea is. |
leo knoll
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... Reach inside that heart of yours; I know you can; deeper; more; even deeper; just try to reach inside your soul. Close your eyes and picture all those tens of thousands of girls dancing in complete perfect unison in the government square with the forced smiles on their faces. Next try to visualize the severely starving people out in the countryside cutting tree bark and leaves from the wasteland searching for nutrition. Can you feel their pain? Try; even harder; like never before! Now envision hundreds of village people at a train station fighting over a few rice grains that were accidently spilled from a train. Can you feel the misery? Are you there yet? Keep trying. Deeper!!! These are human beings we are talking about. And finally remember the lives of two innocent reporters from the USA falsely imprisoned in labor camps; scared to death, but by some luck because they were Americans are recued by President Clinton. Thousands of other innocent people remain there, hopeless and imprisoned. Just imagine what it's like to be a citizen of North Korea where others are in complete control of your life; where your voice means nothing because no one listens or even cares about what's going on with you. Are you getting this? I know Shawn and Nastia do. They understand. The worlds gymnasts all seem to get this. We can learn from them! |
Dowisk
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... I think that they should bring the age rule back down to were it was during the 1996 games, but also I do think that they should ban Korea for the next olympics for the fact that this was their second offense, obviously they didn't learn from the first time. |
Alex Liang
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... Whilst I do feel that the North Korean Gymnastics Federation needs to be sent a stern and strong message that the FIG rules have to be observed and respected, I do really feel sorry for the N Korean gymnasts. We all know what kind of police state North Korea is and these gymnasts have no say over the way their federation behaves and acts. Unlike the gymnasts from places like America, Germany and Japan who get the best of everything, these gymnasts train in poor conditions and have a much harder life. Even if Hong was aware of the age falsification, she's unlikely to be able to do anything about it or have a say in the issue. Could the North Korean gymnastics federation be given a fine and shamed whilst sparing the gymnasts? After all, surely the government in North Korea would be furious with them for getting into trouble - any kind of punishment meted out by the government in Pyongyang will be far more severe than anything the FIG can dish out! |
Amelia
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... I certainly don't blame a teenage girl like Hong Su Jong for her federation's actions, any more than I would have blamed the Soviet and 1980s Romanian gymnasts who also had their ages falsified. This is clearly about the federation and not the gymnasts. Having said that, if North Korean gymnasts were accused of doping, would we let them off the hook? The IOC wouldn't. If they are going to participate in international sports contests they need to adhere to the same rules as the rest of the participants. They don't get passes because of the political or economic situation in their country. So I'd be in favor of a ban until 2013. No, that's not fair to Hong, but I'm more concerned about all the gymnasts who DID play by the rules. If there aren't harsh policies in place this will just keep happening. Perhaps something could be done to offer these gymnasts and their coach political asylum somewhere. And perhaps this will inspire the FIG to take a closer look at their inane policies. How is that the birthdate was changed twice before anyone at the FIG woke up and saw it? How many other gymnasts are out there with faked ages? Maybe it's time to push the age limit back to 14 or 15, or to work on other ways of verifying age, such as bone scans. |
