Asia’s taekwondo chiefs apologise to disgraced fighter

Protests in Taiwan have raged since medal hopeful Yang was disqualified on Wednesday for trying to wear extra scoring sensors in her socks for a women’s 49kg match against a Vietnamese opponent.

The spat escalated when the ATU website was attacked by hackers after it carried a statement which condemned the athlete for a “shocking act of deception” even though an official inquiry was pending.

Taiwan’s government demanded an apology for the statement and the disqualification,claiming it was unjust.

When asked about the demand,ATU president Lee Dai-Soon said: “As the ATU,we have nothing to decide now.”

He added that his organisation was still waiting for a formal report from the competition’s supervisory committee.

Chen Chien-ping,the Taiwan taekwondo chief,said the case has been been transferred to the South Korea-based World Taekwondo Federation. “The ATU’s Thai vice-president told us that he will come up with a report based on our statements,which will be presented to the world federation,” Chen said,according to the Central News Agency.

Yang was kicked out of the taekwondo competition when officials found she was wearing a detachable,electronic sensor patch attached to the outside of each of her socks.

The fight went on after the patches were removed. But the bout was stopped and Yang was disqualified when she was leading 9-0 in the first round as the patches were formally ruled illegal.

Fighters are required to wear socks with built-in sensors which help the electronic system score points when they hit other sensors on the opponent’s body gear.

Extra sensors can boost scoring chances.