A Hong Kong basketball coach has been released on bail after being arrested for allegedly punching a student on a school court, an incident captured in a viral online video.
Yung Kam-wah was released early Tuesday morning, TVB reported.
The 54-year-old was arrested on Monday on suspicion of common assault after an online video showed a basketball coach forcing a student to hit himself several times.
The incident allegedly took place at Hon Wah College, a high school in Siu Sai Wan, local independent media Create Stories City reported last week.
Hon Wah College released a statement last Tuesday, saying the incident occurred at the school during the 2023-24 academic year, cable TV reported.
The school added that it had contacted the student to offer support and suspended Yung from coaching duties.
On the same day, Yung apologized on Facebook.
“I want to express my deepest apologies to the student in the video. No matter what rules were broken, what mistakes were made or what the circumstances were, I should never have punished a student in this way,” Yung wrote in a statement in Chinese.
“I understand that this caused him distress and hurt him, and I sincerely apologize.”
Local media also reported that Hon Wah College students said Yung had been abusive to students for a long time.
“Our generation needs love education. Under harsh education, students will just want to quit. Our school basketball team used to do well. However, I saw many friends, who were members of the basketball team, quit the team in the past few years because they couldn’t stand the harsh education there,” one student. said reporters in Cantonese.
Yung, a former player of the Hong Kong men’s national basketball team, currently serves as vice president of the Hong Kong Basketball Association and works as a sports commentator.
