Cuban TKDer Kicks Referee at Olympics; Banned for Life

[Patrick]

The AP has the story:

A Cuban taekwondo athlete and his coach were banned for life after Angel Matos kicked the referee in the face following his bronze-medal match disqualification. ...

"This is a strong violation of the spirit of taekwondo and the Olympic Games. The sanctions are the following and are effective immediately: Lifetime ban of the coach and athlete in all championships sanctioned by the (World Taekwondo Federation) and at the same time, all records of this athlete at the Beijing Games will immediately be erased," said the announcer, reading a WTF release.

Video here: http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/player.html?assetid=0823_sd_tkm_au_l1783&channelcode=sporttk

[Tiger1962]

WOW !! Talk about poor sportsmanship !!

[tenshinka]

Or "Martial Arts Spirit"...

I'm pretty disgusted with the general lack of Jung Shin shown by TKD players of today.

[cocomonk22]

I think the ref was too strict on the 1:00 limit if you watch that video, since he got up and was ready to continue right after the buzzer sounded. However, Matos' response to the disqualification showed that he was not deserving of a medal, appearing to only have developed the physical side of the art.

Here are some pictures of the incident where you can also see how badly Chelbat was injured from the head kick: http://www.nbcolympics.com/taekwondo/photos/galleryid=251421.html

[tallgeese]

Yeah, maybe a bit harsh on the rules. Still, the kick to the head's a bit much. Glad he got some sort of punishment.

[bushido_man96]

This guy got what he deserved. Its really too bad that this may be the shining moment of TKD what could be its final Olympic appearance. All due to some poor judgement.

[Truestar]

Although he probably should have been allowed to fight kicking a judge or any person without reason goes against everything TKD teaches since white belt. Depending on how he got his black belt could he have it removed by the WTF?

If he could lose his black belt do you guys think that is appropriate?

[bushido_man96]

I don't see any reason why the Kukkiwon, or the WTF, or the Cuban governing body of TKD should't strip him of his rank. You can't take his knowledge, but you can stip the symbols and affiliations. I think they should.

[Truestar]

I asked my head instructor today what he thought. He said if he was the person who gave him his rank he would certainly strip him of it.

I think we can all agree that just knowing the technique of a martial art does not alone constitute black belt, and that there are morals and understanding that must come with it. Morals and understanding this black belt obviously did not have.

[frightmaster]

He not only should be stripped of his BB rank, he should no longer be allowed to progress within ANY organization of TKd being WTF, ITF or so on....He is an embarressment to the sport we all love and his actions can never be tolerated.