Taekwondo has been rocked by blockbuster claims by a former senior official that he helped to pay bribes to secure the sport’s place in the Olympics.
Ho Kim, a South Korean who was the head of marketing and PR at World Taekwondo, made several bribery and corruption claims in a whistleblower interview with The Times. World Taekwondo said last night that it has ‘absolutely no knowledge’ of the allegations.
One of Kim’s claims centres on how taekwondo got in to the Olympics as a full medal sport at Sydney 2000, with Kim asserting officials with voting rights were bought off with cash in brown envelopes.
Taekwando has been hit with claims that it bribed it's way into becoming an Olympic sport
Kim, who claimed he arranged for two cars to be sent to one IOC member, said: ‘Taekwondo started as an Olympic sport because of that.’
World Taekwondo said in a statement: ‘World Taekwondo has absolutely no knowledge of any of these allegations against the former administration.
‘World Taekwondo urges that all evidence behind these allegations is shared with the World Taekwondo Integrity Committee so a proper investigation can be conducted. In the meantime, World Taekwondo continues to uphold the highest standards of good governance and integrity in the administration of our sport.
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