SEOUL– The South Korean baseball club NC Dinos, reeling from multiple positive coronavirus tests, admitted Wednesday four of their players recently had a drinking session inside a road hotel room with two individuals from outside the team.
If confirmed by health authorities, the gathering last week would constitute a violation of health and safety protocols. The admission has intensified criticism against the Dinos, whose players’ positive COVID-19 tests led to an abrupt suspension of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) regular season Monday.
The Dinos made the concession in response to a local news report that claimed the players invited guests to a room while they were in Seoul for a road series against the Doosan Bears. Their games were scheduled for Tuesday to Thursday last week, but the series finale was canceled at the last minute when a guest from the hotel where the Dinos stayed tested positive for the coronavirus.
All Dinos players and coaches were tested immediately. Two positive results came back Friday, followed by another Saturday.
An informed source told Yonhap News Agency on Wednesday that all three infected NC players were part of the group of four players.
At the time of the drinking party, private gatherings of more than four people were banned in Seoul. Social distancing rules have since been tightened and no gatherings of more than two people are permitted after 6 p.m.
Despite the Dinos’ acknowledgment, Park Yu-mi, a Seoul health official, said Wednesday she has not been officially informed of any violation by the baseball players. Park did say she’ll continue to monitor the developing situation.
Along with the three Dinos players, two players from the Bears have tested positive for the coronavirus. The KBO convened an emergency board meeting with club CEOs on Monday to discuss league scheduling, and they agreed to put the season on hold starting this week. The KBO had already scheduled an Olympic break from next Monday to Aug. 9. Should the KBO be able to resume its season on time on Aug. 10, teams will only have missed one week of action.
Under the KBO’s health and safety protocols, five positive cases from two teams, while not insignificant, wouldn’t have been considered serious enough to warrant suspending the season. Normally, the Dinos and the Bears would have been asked to call up minor league players to fill in gaps left by ailing players or those required to self-isolate as close contacts with infected teammates.
Instead, the Dinos and the Bears pushed hard for the suspension, rather than having to play at least a handful of games with compromised rosters. They ended up getting what they wanted, but the Dinos, at least, still have a lot of issues to address.
Source: Yonhap News Agency