The US Olympic Committee has jeopardized the US' chances of earning medals in taekwondo at the 2004 Athens Games by ignoring deadlines to secure an Olympic qualifying tournament, according to a US Taekwondo Union letter obtained by AP.
The letter to USOC general counsel Jeff Benz, sent last week by USTU attorneys, accuses the USOC of failing to meet deadlines set by the World Taekwondo Federation to host a qualifier next month in Miami. The event could end up in Mexico instead.
USTU officials believe losing the home-country advantage would decrease the chances of adding qualifiers for the Athens Games next summer.
"It's sad to realize that certain elements of the USOC are more intent on bringing down the dually elected leadership of an NGB [national governing body] than to help that NGB win medals for the USA in Athens," USTU spokesman Bill Schechter said Tuesday.
The USOC is in the process of decertifying the USTU after an investigation found financial and management irregularities. Should the USTU be stripped of its Olympic charter, the USOC would take over the sport in the US and select the US team for Athens.
USTU officials have responded by saying the USOC's decision was driven by an anti-Korean bias and that proper procedures were not followed in the decertification process.
Taekwondo's international governing body is based in South Korea and many of USTU's members are Korean-American.
Lawyers for both sides reached an agreement to end the rift last month, but the USOC's executive committee rejected the proposal because it allowed for president Sang Lee to remain with the organization in a lesser role.
Spokesman Darryl Seibel said the USOC has not received official notification that the qualifier has been moved, but they are aware of the possibility.
"Had the leadership of the NGB done a better job of managing its business, we never would have been faced with this circumstance," Seibel said. "If not for the issues uncovered in the review, we would have not had to move forward with decertification."
The USTU said it reached an agreement in April to host the Pan American qualifier in Miami and that the USOC made assurances it would provide US$77,000 to cover the cost of the tournament. No payment was ever made, even though Lee was granted an extension, the letter said.
The letter also said that WTF secretary general Kum Hong Lee told the USOC and the Pan-American Taekwondo Union last week that the tournament would have to be moved because the USOC never confirmed the funding.
"If it is true that the Pan-Am Olympic Qualifying event has been lost to another country, there will be serious detrimental impact on the ability of the United States to qualify our taekwondo athletes," the letter said.
The US team qualified one division at the world championships in Paris earlier this year.
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