World Taekwondo says it has “absolutely no knowledge” of a former employee’s allegation that he was involved in paying bribes to secure the sport’s place in the Olympics.
Ho Kim, a South Korean who was head of marketing and public relations at the World Taekwondo Federation, has made several wide-ranging allegations of bribery and corruption in a whistleblower interview with the Times.
One of them revolves around how taekwondo entered the Olympic program as a full-medal sport at Sydney 2000, with Ho Kim claiming voting officials were bought with cash in brown envelopes.
Ho Kim – who claimed he arranged for two cars to be sent to an IOC member – said: “Taekwondo was introduced as an Olympic sport in Sydney in 2000 for this reason.”
Taekwondo first appeared at an Olympics as a demonstration sport in Seoul in 1988 and held the same status in Barcelona in 1992 before being upgraded eight years later.
World Taekwondo – which the Federation dropped from its name in June 2017 – said in a statement: “World Taekwondo has absolutely no knowledge of these allegations against the previous government.
“World Taekwondo urges that all evidence behind these allegations be shared with the World Taekwondo Integrity Committee so that a proper investigation can be conducted. A further opinion would therefore only be appropriate after the conclusion of the investigation. In the meantime, World Taekwondo continues to uphold the highest standards of good governance and integrity in the global stewardship of our sport.”
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