Cuban tae kwon do competitor kicks ref
Former gold medal winner Matos upset at disqualification.
THE NEW YORK TIMES
Sunday, August 24, 2008
BEIJING — A Cuban tae kwon do athlete committed one of the biggest breaches of sportsmanship at an Olympics, kicking a referee in the face in anger after he was disqualified from his match Saturday.
Angel Valodia Matos, 31, charged at the referee, Chakir Chelbat of Sweden, after Chelbat disqualified him for taking too long in an injury timeout.
Matos angrily pushed another judge, ran at Chelbat and kicked him, and spit on the mat as he was grabbed and ushered out of the arena by security.
The World Taekwondo Federation said after the match that Matos, along with his coach, Leodis Gonzalez, would be banned from all its future sanctioned events and his records at the Beijing Games would be erased.
However, WTF officials later said their ban of Matos was not official, and they would discuss the situation with the International Olympic Committee.
Matos was winning his over-80 kilogram (176 pounds) match against Arman Chilmanov of Kazakhstan, 3-2, in the second round when Chilmanov struck Matos, who fell to the ground. More than a minute passed as he awaited medical attention, and he was disqualified by Chelbat because tae kwon do rules allow just a minute for an injury timeout.
"To me it was obvious he was unable to continue," said Chilmanov, the bronze medal winner. "His toe on his left foot was broken."
Matos won the gold medal in this division in the 2000 Olympics and finished 11th in 2004. After Matos' disqualification, Gonzalez angrily declared that Chelbat had fixed the match.
That was not the only controversy Saturday: a women's quarterfinal victory was overturned on appeal. Chen Zhong of China won her match over Sarah Stevenson of Britain, 1-0. But Stevenson protested that she was not given 2 points for a kick to Chen's head late in the match. Officials decided in Stevenson's favor and she was awarded the victory.
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Fidel Castro defends Cuban taekwondo athlete who kicked judge in the face at Olympics
HAVANA - Fidel Castro on Monday defended the Cuban taekwondo athlete who kicked a referee in the face at the Beijing Olympics, saying Angel Matos was rightfully indignant over his disqualification from the bronze-medal match.
Taekwondo officials want Matos and his coach banned for life from the sport. But Castro expressed "our total solidarity" for both Matos and his coach Leudis Gonzalez.
Matos was winning 3-2 in the second round when he fell to the mat after being hit by his opponent, Kazakhstan's Arman Chilmanov, and was disqualified for taking more than his one minute of injury time...
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