FILE PHOTO: Swimming – 18th FINA World Swimming Championships – Men’s 200m Butterfly Heats – Nambu University Municipal Aquatics Center, Gwangju, South Korea – July 23, 2019. Tamas Kenderesi of Hungary competes. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji
GWANGJU, South Korea (Reuters) – South Korean police have banned Hungarian swimmer Tamas Kenderesi from leaving the country as they investigate allegations of sexual harassment against the Olympic bronze medallist, authorities said on Sunday.
Kenderesi, who was competing at the world championships in Gwangju, about 330 km (205 miles) south of Seoul, was arrested in the early hours of Sunday and questioned over an incident at a nightclub, an official at the Gwangju Seobu Police Station told Reuters.
A Hungarian team official confirmed Kenderesi had been questioned and that he had been released and returned to the Athletes Village.
However, Kenderesi would not be allowed to leave South Korea for the next 10 days, the police official said, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Yonhap News Agency reported earlier that the athlete had denied the allegation.
The 22-year-old finished last in the final of the men’s 200 metres butterfly in Gwangju on Wednesday.
Organizers of the event declined to comment as it is a private matter not related to the competition.
On Saturday, a deck at a Gwangju nightclub collapsed, injuring several foreign athletes competing at the World Aquatics Championships, rescue officials said.
Reporting by Ju-min Park; Additional Reporting by Peter Rutherford; Editing by Nick Mulvenney
