Ángel Matos

Ángel Valodia Matos Fuentes (born December 24, 1976 in Holguín) is a Cuban taekwondo athlete. He received a gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, [http://www.databaseolympics.com/games/gamessport.htm?g=25&sp=TKD "2000 Summer Olympics – Sydney, Australia – Taekwondo"] "databaseOlympics.com" (Retrieved on April 5, 2008)] and added another at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro.

The World Taekwondo Federation banned Matos and his coach for life following an incident at the 2008 Summer Olympics where Matos kicked a referee after being disqualified in the bronze medal match. The decision was later ratified by the IOC. [http://www.smh.com.au/news/taekwondo/cuban-kicked-out-after-attacking-referee/2008/08/25/1219516279008.html Cuban kicked out after taekwondo disgrace] "Sydney Morning Herald Aug 25, 2008"]

2000 Summer Olympics

At the 2000 Summer Olympics, Matos was gold medalist in the men's middleweight (80 kg) class.Staff report (August 9, 2004). [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,994816,00.html The Olympians] , "Time"] In the first round, he defeated Felipe Soto Alvarez of Chile 9–2. In the quarterfinals, he defeated Victor Manuel Estrada Garibay of Mexico 2–0, besting Swede Roman Livaja in the semifinals, 4–0. In the gold medal match Matos defeated Germany's Faissal Ebnoutalib 3–1.Staff report (September 29, 2000). [http://espn.go.com/oly/summer00/results/taekwondo.html Summer Olympics 2000 Results - Taekwondo] ESPN.com]

2004 Summer Olympics

Matos was the defending Olympic welterweight champion. At the 2003 Pan American Games Matos was defeated 4–1 by eventual gold medalist Steven Lopez.Weir, Tom (August 2, 2004). [http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/athens/fight/2004-08-02-lopez-cover_x.htm Lopez kicks his way to Athens with help from family] , "USA Today"] He was not a medalist at Athens in 2004, being ousted by Mexican Estrada 8–7, in the preliminary round of 16.

2008 Summer Olympics

In the bronze medal match in the men's 80+ kg class at the 2008 Summer Olympics, Matos was set against Kazakhstan's Arman Chilmanov.cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/aug/24/olympics2008.olympicstaekwondo|title=Cuban banned after assault on referee] After he incurred an injury in the fight (at which point he led the match 3-2), he subsequently took a Kyeshi.Under World Taekwondo Federation tournament rules players sustaining injury are allowed one minute of Kyeshi time, at the end of which the competitor in question must return to the center of the ring to resume the fight or request further time, or else forfeit the match. [cite web|url=http://www.wtf.org/site/rules/competition.htm#19|title=The World Taekwondo Federation] Swedish referee Chakir Chelbat gave a time warning at 40 seconds, but Kyeshi elapsed without Matos returning to the center. The referee ruled while he was sitting awaiting medical attention that he had taken too long during his time out and subsequently disqualified him. "To me it was obvious he was unable to continue," his opponent Arman Chilmanov of Kazakhstan said. "His toe on his left foot was broken." [cite web|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/sports/olympics/24taekwondo.html|title=Cuban athlete is barred for kicking referee’s face] After Chilmanov was declared the winner, Matos briefly argued and then delivered a kick to the face of the referee, drawing blood from the referee's mouth, then pushed or punched a judge and spat on the arena floor.cite web | title = Cuban attacks judge after losing bronze in taekwondo | url=http://www.foxsports.com.au/beijing_olympics/story/0,27313,24231037-5016792,00.html | accessdate = 2008-08-23 | publisher=AFP/Fox ] cite news
url=http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gBc5uA2gEfcqAO50n1lqHot8aWLAD92O159G0
title=Cuban taekwondo athlete banned after kicking ref
publisher=AP/Google
date=2008-08-23
accessdate=2008-08-23
first=Eric
last=Talmadge] [cite news | url = http://www.nbcolympics.com/taekwondo/news/newsid=251304.html | title = Kicked out: Cuban banned for life | publisher = NBC Sports | date = August 23, 2008 | accessdate = 2008-08-23 ] Given alleged poor judging during the Olympics, the crowd watching the event chanted "Cuba" and applauded him and his coach. [cite web|url=http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/sports/2008/08/253_29893.html|title=Poor judging hurts Taekwondo]

Matos' coach Leudis González said of the referee's initial decision to end the fight, "He was too strict...".

A statement released by the World Taekwondo Federation referred to the incident as a "strong violation of the spirit of taekwondo and the Olympic Games," ordered all reports of his participation in the 2008 Olympics to be struck from the records, and imposed a lifetime ban preventing him and his coach, González, from participation in any future World Taekwondo Federation events. [cite news |first= Ian|last= Ransom|title= Cuban banned for referee kick|url= http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-Olympics/idUSPEK30514420080823|publisher= Reuters|date= 2008-08-23|accessdate=2008-08-24] [cite web|url=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aSGpc2ezfJpI&refer=home|title=Cuban Taekwondo champ faces ban for kicking Olympic ref in head]

Former Cuban president Fidel Castro defended Matos, saying he was rightfully indignant over his disqualification. "I saw when the judges blatantly stole fights from two Cuban boxers in the semifinals", Castro wrote. "Our fighters ... had hopes of winning, despite the judges, but it was useless. They were condemned beforehand." [cite news | title= Fidel Castro defends Ángel Matos' actions | url= http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/olympics/2008/08/25/bc.cuba.castro.olympics.ap/index.html?eref=si_latest]

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