HAVANA (AP) – 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. Matos angrily questioned the call, pushed a judge and then pushed and kicked referee Chakir Chelbat of Sweden, who needed stiches to repair his lip. Matos then spat on the floor and was escorted out.
Taekwondo officials called Matos’ behavior an insult to the Olympic vision. Matos’ coach countered that the match was fixed and accused the Kazakhs of offering him money. Castro said the alleged bribery attempt gave Matos good reason to expect the judges to treat him unfairly. “They had tried to buy his own coach,” Castro wrote in his essay published in state media. “He could not contain himself.” Cuba is accustomed to winning golds in boxing, but settled this year for four silver and four bronze medals. Overall, Cuba took home only two golds, down from nine in Athens four years ago.
Right in the Kisser!
So I guess it’s safe to say that we’ll never see the Olympics in Cuba.
#1 I think the money China spent on the Olympics is more then Cuba’s entire GDP.
and….
OWNED!! (someone had to say it)
Ban Castro for life, too. Wait, he’s still alive, isn’t he?
#4 He’s “alive”, as in a crew from Disney animatronics flew to Cuba 3 months ago…
Rule #1:
Ignore James Hill unless you have an insult for he and his itsy bitsy teeny weeny little mind.
Rule #2:
Never touch the umpire, referee, judge, or whoever is the official.
Rule #3:
The Olympics is not about individuals. It is about nations. Artistic judging will always be suspect and open to interpretation.
#6 “Artistic judging will always be suspect and open to interpretation.”
That’s why I favor dropping “artistic” “sports” from the Olympics.
He should be held accountable for what he did.
Charge him with assault and battery. A little time in chinese jail might let him appreciate the Olympic Spirit.
# 4 Watch it with the old President jokes. We’ve got a 70+ year old running in the USA! 😉
In all my years watching pro wrestling, I’ve never seen an athlete attack a referee. Why do you suppose that is? I’ll tell you: It’s the professional way those referees act. If the Olympic referees and judges in China could have lifted themselves to the same standards found in the sport of professional wrestling maybe this wouldn’t have happened.
Should of drank a Coke.
As a fan of mixed martial arts I’ve known this for quite some time, but this is further proof on how ineffective TKD is.
That guy was fighting for a medal, so one of the best practitioners in the world, he kicked that un-expecting guy in the head. The man wasn’t knocked out or even knocked down.
To me this is fine evidence that TKD is only mildly better suited for self-defense than equestrian sports.
#12, Steven,
Equestrian events are self defense?
#12, Steven
I’m sure your esteemed and highly earned status as a fan of MMA leaves you qualified to judge the relative effectiveness of martial arts.
Armchair quarterbacks are the same the world over, it appears.
I think the idea of a Cuban athlete complaining about fixing a fight is funny and somehow poetic justice. That it happened in a (formerly) communist nation (fascist really) is even funnier! So why not throw in a third wrong and have him hit the likely corrupt judge!
Ban him for several years. If his coach endorsed it post facto, ban him for life.
Look, dude, maybe you’re not old enough to know that so many sports have been fixed in olympic history that it’s rather expected. Boxing and TKD are one of the most well known fixed sports in Olympics. Sorry fro you. It’s tough to take especially when you’re on the receiving end but as any real practitioner of TKD will know, that is not how you resolve matters. Now you just screwed up one of your only ways out from your government.
@ 15 alphgeek
It isn’t my status as an mma fan, but what can be learned from watch far too much mma: TKD isn’t very effective. Joe Rogan (regardless of what you think of him) has a black belt in TKD and he has often commented on just what a waste it is.
Go back to early UFC events and you’ll see that TKD guys do horribly.
I myself practiced TKD when I was young.
And the relative effectiveness of the martial art can be seen when this man who was contending for the bronze in the sport kicked a man in the face who didn’t see it coming and the man was still standing and seemingly lucid.
hhmmm i wonder how long it will be before china invades cuba to save face on this……………???
I guess Angel wasn’t so injured after all. He should have gotten off the mat sooner. If you’re going to lay on the mat faking an injury you deserve to get DQ’ed. Go put on a leotard and maybe you can join Cuba’s stupid rhythmic gymnastics team twirling a ribbon or jump in the pool with the equally useless synchronized water ballet maidens.
i’ve “heard” that the decision to disqualify Matos was the incorrect call, but can’t find any information to back up that claim. Any links?
CNN should hire Matos for the presidential debates. Tell a lie… whammo! i’d watch.
Next weeks guest on the Springer show.
These gorillas think they can act the same way abroad as their government does in Cuba with any one who tries to express themselves freely.
Let’s not forget the incident in the PanAmerican Games in Baltimore when the Cuban baseball team took to the stands (bats in-hand) to beat up some fans that were holding a sign up asking for “Human Rights” for Cuba.
It’s so sad that I am Cuban-born and yet I have to cheer for any other athletes from anywhere in the world against the Cuban Athletes.
Sports and politics shouldn’t mix –– tell that to the Cuban baseball team and to Castro for backing Angel’s kick to the the referee!