The twins enjoyed successful volleyball careers, representing South Korea in international competitions, until they were anonymously accused of bullying previous teammates at their school.
After the allegations surfaced in February, they publicly apologized on their Instagram accounts, which have since been deleted. Both also said that they wished to meet with their former schoolmates to apologize for their actions.
Jae-yeong and Da-yeong were released by club side Incheon Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders in June when fans protested against the Pink Spiders’ attempt to register the sisters on the roster.
Fans sent trucks with mounted LED screens showing statements that read “Comeback of the school bullies that everyone except Heungkuk Life Insurance is against” to multiple locations, including the Heungkuk Life Insurance company headquarters in Seoul.
In February, the Pink Spiders had confirmed it would suspend the pair for an indefinite amount of time, while the Korea Volleyball Association (KVA) dropped them from the national team ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.
With free-agent status, the sisters chose to continue their volleyball careers in Greece.
The players needed International Transfer Certificates (ITCs) issued by the KVA to transfer to an international club, but the association sternly refused, citing its own regulation which limits international transfers of those who have severely damaged the volleyball community or caused public controversy with “disgraceful acts.”
“We told Federation Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) and the Greek team that we cannot agree with the [twins’] international transfer according to our regulation that players who caused public controversy cannot transfer internationally,” the KVA told CNN.
The KVA said it had received two messages from the FIVB asking for a bank account number to receive the solidarity fee from the twin sisters’ transfer.
When South Korean volleyball players transfer to an international club, the association receives 5% to 10% of the salary from the purchasing club.
“We didn’t provide our bank account information because we will not receive the fee,” the association said. “This is not a matter of money.”
As the KVA maintained its stance until the given deadline, the FIVB confirmed to CNN that it has officially issued ITCs for the twins “as per the procedures under the FIVB Sports Regulations that allow ITCs to be approved without the consent of the National Federation.”
The KVA also confirmed Jae-yeong and Da-yeong’s transfer to PAOK Thessaloniki. PAOK did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.