Taipei, Nov. 17 (CNA) Taiwan legislators condemned the disqualification of a Taiwanese female taekwondo competitor in the 2010 Asian Games Wednesday and requested the country's sports-governing body to file a protest.
In her first match, Yang Shu-chun was leading 9: 0 in the first round against a Vietnamese opponent in the women's 49kg division when she was disqualified for "wearing non-certified electronic foot equipment."
The coach of the Taiwan taekwondo team Liu Ching-wen told reporters at Guangdong Gymnasium in China that the foot equipment had passed the pre-match inspection. Yang put on that footwear after the one she was wearing originally failed to pass the inspection, he said.
"The decision was inconceivable and ridiculous, " said Kuomintang Legislator Huang Chih-hsiung, a former taekwondo athlete who won a silver medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics, at a hastily called press conference in Taipei.
He said the decision was unfair because the equipment had passed pre-match inspection and Yang was allowed to compete in the match.
From his experience of more than 20 years as a taekwondo athlete, Huang said, wearing unqualified gear would have resulted in a referee's warning or points deduction. However, Yang was handed a 12-0 loss.
Kuan Bi-ling, a legislator of the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) , urged Sports Affairs Council (SAC) Chairwoman Tai Hsia-ling, who is currently in Guangzhou, to file a protest with the Games officials and do her best to protect the integrity of the Taiwanese athletes.
"I would like to tell our athletes (in Guangzhou) that the people of Taiwan are on your side, " she said. The SAC should do everything it can to overturn the decision "even if it means we have to boycott the Games," she added.
The SAC said in a statement Wednesday afternoon that Yang had entered the match with certified equipment. It said the disqualification was unfair and was a pity, especially as the Taiwan delegation was not given an opportunity to present its opinion in the arbitration meeting of the technical committee.
Yang Shu-chun was disqualified from the Games for her "malicious behaviors" that could lead to a disadvantage for her rivals, said Yang Jin Suk of South Korea, Secretary-General of the World Taekwondo Federation, at a press conference Wednesday afternoon in Guangzhou.
The official said Yang Shu-chun and the Taiwan coaches are expected to face sanctions for staging an on-site protest.
Asked why Yang Shu-chun had been disqualified after passing the pre-match inspection and entering the match without being questioned by her Vietnamese opponent and the chief referee, Yang Jin Suk said he "couldn't explain in detail because it involved personal privacy." (By Chris Wang) enditem /pc