It was also claimed the Briton had made several breaches of security regulations imposed by local organisers after what has been described as "appalling behaviour".

The 40-year-old became embroiled in an exchange with a paid security guard while leaving a transport mall close to the Olympic Family hotel.

Pengilly has admitted to apologising for refusing to obey instructions to take a longer pedestrian route to his transport, swearing, and for then running past the guard and ignoring his requests to stop.

He publicly denies reports that he pushed the guard for 30 metres along the floor and using racist language about South Korea.

CCTV footage which would seemingly end the confusion over what happened has still not been released or publicly described.

"On February 15, 2018 Adam Pengilly, IOC member as a member of the IOC Athletes’ Commission, exhibited highly inappropriate behaviour," the IOC wrote in a letter distributed among the members and seen by insidethegames.

"During his interview afterwards with the IOC chief ethics and compliance officer [Päquerette Girard Zappelli] and the head of IOC corporate security [Aldric Ludescher], Mr Pengilly admitted to refusing to follow the security processes, having physical contact with the security guard and having sworn at him, which constitutes breaches of POCOG [Pyeongchang 2018] Security Regulations. 

"As a consequence, he accepted the decision to immediately leave the country. 

"Mr Pengilly effectively left Korea early on February 16, 2018. 

"Despite the written apologies made by Mr Pengilly to the security guard, the Korean authorities/POCOG considered that this measure was not sufficient, considering the serious breach of security regulations and violent disrespect to a member of the Security Forces. 

"Subsequently, the Korean authorities/POCOG requested that Mr Pengilly would not leave Korea before making a public apology in person. 

"They also requested more serious disciplinary sanctions to be imposed on him by the IOC."

The IOC claim to have helped Pengilly leave despite requests for him to stay and face action in a similar way to how they dealt with Ryan Lochte at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

"It has been explained to the Korean authorities/POCOG that in case of disrespect to Police/Security Forces, the usual IOC policy is the withdrawal of accreditation and return to the country (e.g. US swimmer in Rio)," they said.

"Finally all parties agreed that the right measures were taken by the IOC. "

IOC Presidential spokesman Mark Adams claimed today that the letter to IOC members, which was distributed by the communications department, was based on information provided by the ethics department. 

“As far as I understand, it was seen by the Ethics Department, and was seen as a fair explanation of the event," he said. 

Lochte was accused of making up the story that he and team-mates Jimmy Feigen, Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger had been held up and robbed by men posing as police in the aftermath of Rio 2016.

It soon emerged that the group had been obliged by an armed security guard to pay for damage caused to a petrol station after a drunken night of celebration.

Lochte had left the country before charges could be pressed in Brazil.

Pengilly has not yet been shown the CCTV footage.

Some IOC members believe that the only correct option was to make sure Pengilly went home quickly, while others believe it is imperative that the CCTV is studied soon.

Adams has repeatedly insisted the IOC consider the matter closed and are not expecting to reveal and contents of the CCTV.

"The Korean public and in particular the security guards were appalled by this behaviour, which they considered to be highly disrespectful," the letter to IOC members added.

"Therefore, the IOC President [Thomas Bach], accompanied by the chair of the IOC Coordination Commission, Mrs Gunilla Lindberg, the chair of the IOC Athletes’ Commission, Mrs Angela Ruggiero, and Mr Ivo Ferriani, IBSF (International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation) President, personally presented their apologies to the victim and the security guards for the inappropriate behaviour. 

"The victim, the security forces and POCOG not only graciously accepted these apologies, but also committed themselves to continue to work closely with the IOC for the safety and success of the Olympic Winter Games."