First Game in Gyeonggi After About 8 Months Since 'School Violence Controversy'
Expelled from Domestic League... "I Thought About Quitting, But Felt I Would Regret It"
PAOK setter Lee Da-young interviewed with the club's official channel after winning her first Greek League debut match / Photo by PAOK Thessaloniki YouTube channel capture
[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Ju-hyung] Lee Da-young (25, PAOK Thessaloniki), who was expelled from the domestic volleyball league due to a school violence controversy and transferred to Greece, made a significant impact in her debut match. After the game, Lee Da-young expressed, "I was able to win thanks to the help of my teammates."
In an interview on the official YouTube channel of her club PAOK Thessaloniki on the 20th (local time), Lee Da-young said, "I am happy to have won," and repeatedly thanked fans and teammates, saying, "We were able to win thanks to the support of the fans. The attackers and libero also did really well."
In the home game against Olympiacos held at the PAOK Sports Arena in Thessaloniki, Greece, Lee Da-young started as PAOK's main setter.
She supported the team's main scorer Malagros Kola's 22 points and also coordinated well with her newly met teammate Evagel Merteki. In particular, Lee Da-young scored 1 point in each set, totaling 3 points, actively contributing herself. Thanks to this, Lee Da-young was selected as one of the MVPs of the match along with Merteki.
Lee Jae-young, Lee Da-young's twin sister and a left-side hitter, did not participate in the game and stayed on the bench. Due to the foreign player participation limit in the Greek league (maximum of 3 players) and PAOK having abundant left-side hitter resources, they did not rush her participation.
The club to which Lee Da-young belongs gave significant attention to her debut match. / Photo by PAOK Thessaloniki Twitter capture
The two played in a volleyball match for the first time in about eight months since last February. Lee Jae-young and Lee Da-young were expelled from the Korean professional volleyball 'V-League' after being identified as perpetrators of school violence at that time. They were also stripped of their national team qualifications by the Korea Volleyball Association.
In particular, Lee Da-young faced further controversy after allegations surfaced that she verbally abused her husband following their marriage in 2018.
Regarding this, Lee Da-young's legal representative, the law firm Sejong, issued a press release stating, "Mr. A, who agreed to divorce Lee Da-young, repeatedly made incomprehensible financial demands such as requesting real estate or 500 million won in cash owned before marriage as a condition for divorce," and emphasized, "Marital life should be protected as private life, but Mr. A conducted interviews about the marital life with Lee Da-young without revealing his identity. This cannot be justified for any reason."
Unable to return to the domestic league, the two eventually joined PAOK and moved their activities to Greece.
Before departing for Greece late at night on the 16th via Incheon International Airport, the two said in an interview with reporters, "We must take responsibility for our past wrongdoings and will apologize and reflect for life to volleyball fans and victims of school violence," adding, "We considered quitting as players, but thought we would regret it. Since we cannot play domestically, going to Greece was inevitable."
They added, "The past few months have been an opportunity to reflect on ourselves and will be a great lesson going forward," and "An objective investigation is underway, so we hope people will watch over us."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
