FEG held a press conference in Tokyo on Tuesday to announce the penalties against Badr Hari for his unsportsmanlike conduct at K-1 World GP 2008 on December 6.
Sadaharu Tanikawa K-1 event producer:
"After having a meeting with Nobuaki Kakuda rule director, judges and FEG, we decided to give him the heaviest penalties in K-1 history. He is stripped of his heavyweight title and not paid for his participation in K-1 World GP. We don't suspend his license in K-1 because our current rules don't allow us to do that. We are going to modify the rules to allow for suspensions starting 2009. We take back our plan of offering him fights in Dynamite and K-1 event in March. We haven't reached a decision when he comes back. We expect a lot from him. We hope he gets mentally stronger, and regain the title of K-1 champion someday."
Badr Hari accepted the FEG's decision and made an apology for his action.
"I'm sorry that my action disappointed my fans. I truly regret what I did. I hope I can come back to K-1 ring soon."
Tanikawa also commented on 2008 Olympic judo gold medalist Satoshi Ishii.
"I'm very disappointed to hear his decision of challenging to the UFC. If he hasn't contracted with them yet, I don't give up. I will try to convince him to stay in Japan. It's great for him to pursue his dream, but he is too good to let go easily."
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