Hackers attack World Taekwondo site over Taiwan row

Taiwanese taekwondo fighter Yang Shu-chun arrives for a disciplinary hearing at the World Taekwondo Federation, the Korean martial art's international governing body, in Seoul on December 18, 2010. Hackers have attacked the website of the World Taekwondo Federation after it punished Yang for allegedly cheating at the Asian Games.

AFP - Hackers attacked the website of the World Taekwondo Federation after it punished a Taiwanese fighter for allegedly cheating at the Asian Games, media reported Wednesday.

The incident came after the federation, the sport's world governing body, suspended Yang Shu-chun, a gold medal hopeful who was disqualified at the games in southern China in November for using extra sensors in her socks.

"Still unfair," hackers wrote on the federation's website late Tuesday night, Taiwan's state-run Central News Agency said.

The Seoul-based world federation suspended Yang for three months and her coach for 20 months in a letter to the Chinese Taipei Amateur Taekwondo Association, as Taiwan's taekwondo body is known, on Tuesday.

It also fined the association 50,000 US dollars for "negligence and wrongdoing" for its role in the controversy.

"The outcome was worse than expected," Chen Chien-ping, the head of the Taiwanese association, said.

Chou Rei, a senior official at Taiwan's Sports Affairs Council, said the council was not satisfied with the result.

"We will continue by preparing an appeal for Yang at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland," he said.

Yang's Asian Games bout was stopped and she was disqualified while leading 9-0 in the first round, as her socks, complete with detachable electronic sensors, were ruled illegal.

Fighters are required to wear socks with built-in sensors which help the electronic system score points when they hit other sensors on the opponent's body gear.

The spat escalated when the Asian Taekwondo Union website carried a statement condemning the athlete for a "shocking act of deception" even though an official inquiry was pending.

Taiwan's government demanded an apology for the statement and the disqualification, claiming it was unjust.

The ATU later removed the article from the website and its officials said they "feel sorry and apologise," according to local media.

The event set off a wave of anti-Korean ire in Taiwan, and hackers attacked the Asian Taekwondo Union's website.