Cuban class act Part III: Castro alleges judges cheated Cubans

[Bacchus39]

HAVANA, Cuba (AP) -- Fidel Castro on Monday defended the Cuban taekwondo athlete who kicked a judge in the face at the Beijing Olympics, saying Angel Matos was rightfully indignant over his disqualification from the bronze-medal match.


Cuban Angel Matos kicks referee Chakir Chelbat in the face Saturday after being disqualified in a 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. He also said, without providing details, that the coach had been offered a bribe.

Matos "was predisposed and indignant," after being unjustly disqualified, Castro wrote. "He couldn't contain himself."

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 awaiting medical attention when he was disqualified for taking too much injury time. Fighters get one minute, and Matos was disqualified when his time ran out.

Castro also alleged that Olympic judges stole semifinal fights from two Cuban boxers.

Cuba is accustomed to winning gold medals 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, Greece, four years ago.

"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."

The ailing, 82-year-old ex-president also noted that defections have taken their toll, blaming "the repugnant mercenary actions" of promoters who lure Cuban boxers off the island with lucrative contracts.

And Castro hinted that big changes could be in order for Cuban sports, pledging a serious review of "every discipline, every human and material resource that we dedicate to sport."

"Cuba has never bought an athlete or judge," Castro wrote, adding that Cubans need to begin preparing now for London in 2012. "There will be European chauvinism, judge corruption, buying of brawn and brains ... and a strong dose of racism," he predicted