Hungarian swimmer Kenderesi touched buttocks but denies sexual harassment

He acknowledged that he touched the buttock of an 18-year-old Korean woman in a club. He added that he would deposit a sum equivalent to a possible fine just to be able to leave South Korea as soon as possible.

As we reported before, the 22-year-old athlete who took part in the 2019 FINA World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, was detained in the early hours of Sunday after an 18-year-old woman reported him to the police indicting the Hungarian swimmer for groping her. 

According to the English version of the Yonhap News Agency, during questioning, he admitted to having made physical contact with the woman. Though the police released him a couple of hours later, they banned him from leaving the country for the next 10 days while the investigation is pending.

However, Mr Kenderesi would like to get home as soon as possible. So, he said that he would deposit a sum equivalent to an estimated fine to the court.

He said in a Facebook post that when he was walking back from the restrooms,

he unadvisedly touched the buttock of a Korean woman.

He did not even stop behind her, but the girl got angry and reported him to the police. He emphasised that he was not groping the girl, and after understanding the seriousness of the case, he cooperated with the local police. Since there is security footage of what happened exactly, he hopes that it will shortly come to light that he did not commit sexual harassment. He added that he already learned that with his deed, he broke some important moral standards which are an integral part of the local culture. Therefore, he is very sorry for what happened, and he expressed his wish to ask for pardon from the victim in person. However,

he denies that he committed sexual harassment.

According to origo.hu, the swimmer’s girlfriend, Fanni Szilovics, a gold medal winner on the 2019 Women’s Junior European Handball Championship, posted a photo on Instagram taking a stand for her boyfriend.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BzWCZvplqPN/

Sándor Wladár, president of the Hungarian Swimming Association, said that based on local laws, authorities have six days to decide about Kenderesi’s punishment. According to him, there are two possible outcomes of the issue: authorities either decide that nothing happened

or they fine the Hungarian swimmer. 

According to hvg.hu, the Hungarian Swimming Association already saw the security footage, and they said that they correlate with what the Hungarian swimmer claimed. 

Tamás Kenderesi won a bronze medal in the Rio Olympics in 2016, but none in the Gwangju championships held between July 12 and 28.