Controversy on the mat
Olympic taekwondo judges fought further accusations of biased refereeing Saturday, as France filed an official complaint after their heavyweight Pascal Gentil lost to South Korea’s Kim Kyong-Hun.
Kim, the 1997 world champion, beat Gentil 6-2 in the semi-finals. However a complaint by French coach Philippe Boudeo was rejected by the taekwondo board of arbitration after studying a video of the match.
"The scores are assigned exactly as shown on the score board," an official
statement said. It was the first official appeal after daily protests about the refereeing
in taekwondo since the Korean-born sport of kicking and punching made its
Olympic debut four days ago.
"They wanted the Korean to win," a tearful Gentil, 27, fumed. "It was my fault. I should have knocked him out," he said. "I touched him but they didn’t count. But, when he didn’t touch me, they did count. I am sure that even if I put him down, the referee would have counted 30
times to help him recover."
The 25-year-old Kim dazzled with a consistently effective instep and
headkicks led 7-1 at the end of the second round but one point was deducted
in the final round for passivity as he eased up.
The World Taekwondo Federation (WTF), fearing possible damage to the
sport’s image and future, has persisted with efforts to ensure fair
refereeing. It has placed a "top priority on impartiality in order to present this
first-time medal sport in the best possible light," said WTF spokesman Kang
Seok-Jae.
Aside from the referee on the mat, three officials electronically score a
point for an effective blow. A point is awarded only if two of them
simultaneously acknowledge a blow.
Any referee found to make numerous arbitrary decisions faces a four-year
ban.
On the first day of action, judges were accused of being influenced by the
crowd when Australian Lauren Burns won the women’s 49kg title. In a quarter-final match, Burns was awarded victory by superiority after her bout against Taiwan’s world champion Chi Shu-Ju ended 3-3.
Chi called the result unfair and said shouts from spectators had influenced
the judges, particularly with the last two points awarded to the Australian. On Thursday, the Turkish camp erupted when Hamide Bikcin was beaten 3-2 by June Jae-Eun of South Korea in the women’s 57kg featherweight semi-finals. As Bikcin walked out sobbing, angry Turkish officials in the VIP section
hurled abuse at the jury.
Danish fighter Muhammed Dahmani refused to leave the mat after being beaten
on Friday. He walked round the mat displaying a two fingered V-sign after he
lost to Australian Warren Hansen 6-5 in a men’s under-80kg weltweight contest.
PETER WATTS
Sunday Times
