The Professional Billiards Association (PBA) and Frederique Koudrong (Belgium), who was nicknamed the “Billiard Emperor” and loved by Korean billiards fans, are going to court after he abruptly left Korea this season.
The PBA Secretariat said on the 27th, “Mr. Kudrong’s claims are not true. We plan to proceed with civil and criminal lawsuits for defamatory remarks against the PBA with unilateral claims.”
Kudrong won his eighth career title at the PBA’s second tour in Ansan in July, becoming the first male player to surpass 1 billion won in prize money.
After the tournament, he became uncomfortable while posing for a photo with women’s champion Throng Pheavy (Cambodia-High One Resort), and a personal fan of Throng’s stormed the press conference to protest.
Kudrong later left the league midway through the season after his contract with the club fell through ahead of the third tour.
Kudrong expressed his desire to focus on his individual tour instead of playing in the team league, but the PBA office refused, citing a rule that states that a player’s refusal to play in the team league may limit his participation in the PBA Individual Tour.
As a result, Kudrong terminated his contract with his team, Welcome Savings Bank, and left South Korea, and recently applied for a temporary injunction to the Seoul Central District Court to allow him to play.
“I haven’t been paid for two years while playing in the team league, and it’s unfair to prevent me from going on a private tour just because I don’t play in the team league,” Kudrong wrote on his Facebook page on May 25.
“I never asked for excessive money, I just asked for money that I didn’t get,” Kudrong said. I didn’t cancel the contract, the PBA violated the contract.” “I feel sorry for my fans in Korea. I hope to play again someday,” he said.
In response, the PBA issued a press release refuting Kudrong’s claims.
“The Team League is the foundation of the PBA Tour. Kudrong’s refusal to play in a team league and to play only on the individual tour is a selfish act that disregards the foundation of the PBA and seeks only prize money.”
“Kudrong made unreasonable demands, including exclusion from team league mixed doubles, refusal to participate in official events and video shoots, deletion of all photos and videos with other female players from the PBA’s official channels, and refusal to be photographed with female players,” the PBA Secretariat said. 스포츠토토