South Korea files second legal protest over Norway's winning goal
22/8/2008 17:42
The BOCOG revealed in Beijing today that South Korea has filed a second
appeal against the result of their women's handball semifinal against Norway
after the first protest was rejected by the world handball governing
body.
Norway edged South Korea 29-28 in the semifinal with a controversial
last-moment goal.
The South Korean Olympic delegation said the Norway's
winning goal was netted after the buzzer and should be annulled, adding that the
match should be into overtime. But their demand was rejected by Disciplinary
Commission of the International Handball Federation (IHF).
"The protest is
refused, because the situation in the last second was a factual decision. The
result of the match is confirmed by the Disciplinary Commission," the IHF
announced.
According to BOCOG, South Korea has appealed against the
Disciplinary Commission decision to the IHF Jury, the second IHF appeal
authority. And the IHF Jury is still meeting and consulting for a
decision.
According to the IHF-Regulations an appeal can be made against the
decision of the Disciplinary Commission up to two hours after receipt of the
decision. The Jury will deal with the appeal, and its decision will be
final.
In that breathtaking duel, lagging behind 28-27 fifteen seconds before
the buzzer, South Korea hurled in an equalizer with only six seconds to
go.
However, the Norwegians launched a lightning counter-attack. Center back
Gro Hammerseng's goal left both teams bewildered in the court.
The South
Korean squad insisted that the goal was scored after the buzzer, and refused to
leave the seats in sideline after referees endorsed Norway's victory. South
Korean coach Lim Young-chul argued with judges on the matter for about half an
hour before their departure.
Lim said after the match that video replay from
South Korean TV showed the ball crossed the goal line two seconds after the
fulltime buzzer. However he was pessimistic with the outcome of the protest
because there was no such precedent.
It was not the first time for South
Korean handball squad to fight for their interests through legal
procedures.
The results of the men's and women's Olympic handball
qualification tournaments for Asia, held in autumn 2007, caused a deep rift in
Asian Handball, with Kuwait and Kazakhstan won the men's and women's events
respectively and South Korea finished second in both events.
South Korea
lodged protests over the questionable officiating during the qualifiers,
claiming the Kuwait-based Asian Handball Federation (AHF) switched the referees
for Middle Eastern officials who would rule in favour of the Kuwaitis and
Kazakhs.
The IHF ordered the qualifiers to be replayed in January 2008,
before both of the South Korean teams prevailed Japan in the competition
participated merely by the two sides.
However, the AHF insisted the previous
contest was fair and refused to acknowledge the replay tournament.
The case
was brought to the Court of Arbitration in Sport (CAS) since the IHF and the AHF
had reached an impasse as to which nations would represent Asia at the Beijing
Olympic Games.
CAS ruled in favour of South Korea in the men's tournament,
annulling the result of the tournament and approving the replay, while the
result of the original women's tournament was upheld.
The South Korean
women's team, silver medalist at Athens Games, had to fight for their ticket in
Beijing through the Olympic qualification held in March 2008.
Xinhua
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