20101122 Taekwondo controversy was clearly predictable

Taekwondo controversy was clearly predictable

By Lin Hsuan-chu 林軒竹

The disqualification of Taiwanese taekwondo contestant Yang Shu-chun (楊淑君) at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, has provoked an uproar from all quarters. As Asia Games officials and the Taiwanese side each insist on their own version of the story and cross-strait conspiracy theories run rampant, it is very difficult to work out what actually happened and where the blame lies.

While angry people in Taiwan are unanimously taking aim at external factors, I have to ask what, if anything, the Sports Affairs Council and the Taiwanese delegation to the Asia Games did to prepare for such a foreseeable event as Yang’s unfair disqualification.

This is by no means the first time that South Korean referees have made controversial judgments at sporting events. This is especially true of taekwondo, a sport in which South Korea holds a dominant position. The controversy over the knockout of Taiwanese contestant Tseng Ching-hsiang (曾敬翔) at the East Asian Games in Hong Kong last December is just one example.

Another factor we should have been aware of is China’s consistent effort to suppress our country’s athletes at sporting events. There have been plenty of examples, never mind the fact that this time China was the host country.

Given that these unfavorable factors were already well known, and that an unfortunate incident at the Asian Games was therefore quite predictable, I feel it was essential to take thorough precautions before the games got underway. So what did the sports council and our Asian Games delegation actually do in this regard?

I am curious to know why there was no controversy about the protective gear worn by Taiwanese gold medal winner Huang Hsien-yung (黃顯詠), while Yang’s gear got her into this ridiculous situation. Clearly these two contestants were wearing different kinds of foot gear. However, why would two athletes from the same delegation be wearing different kinds of protective gear?

The team coaches said after the incident that Yang was equipped in accordance with the rulebook and that her foot guards had been approved when officials inspected them before the match. Of course, Asian Games officials deny this and the officials who inspected Yang’s equipment are nowhere to be found.

However, we still have to ask what the sports council did to help the coaches and competitors with matters such as translation, assistance in changing protective gear and ensuring that there would be no hitches when the equipment was inspected.

It was pretty clear that Yang was going to come up against the host country’s top competitor, Wu Jingyu (吳靜鈺), who is considered Yang’s archrival, in the finals. Surely the sports council should have foreseen that there might be some kind of political interference and taken the utmost care to help the coach and competitor deal with anything that might come up. Given their failure to do so, one can only conclude that the sports council and delegation officials are extremely naive.

Lin Hsuan-chu is an assistant professor at National Cheng Kung University.