An American basketball player has been banned from South Korea’s domestic league for life after prosecutors said she forged her birth documents.
Chelsey Lee, 26, played for Bucheon KEB Hana Bank in the Women’s Korean Basketball League (WKBL), whose teams are allowed only two foreign players.
Prosecutors were asked to investigate after the Korean Olympic Committee pushed for Lee’s naturalisation.
The WKBL says Lee will be suspended for life and her records annulled.
The Miami-born centre won the league’s rookie of the year award in the 2015-16 season after helping her team reach the championship series.
However, Lee and her two agents are suspected of fabricating her and her father’s birth certificates to show she had a South Korean grandmother.
Bucheon KEB Hana Bank issued a public apology, vowing to take legal action against Lee and her agents.
The club’s owner and head coach will step down.
WKBL commissioner Shin Sun-woo said the team’s records and ranking will be nullified and the league will scrap the extra quota for international players with a Korean parent or grandparent.
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