The extremes to which GB Taekwondo intends to go to prevent Aaron Cook, the European champion, going to the London Olympics were made clear yesterday when it announced it was considering its right to appeal to ensure that another athlete makes the Great Britain team instead.
The taekwondo selection controversy became increasingly bitter and legally twisted yesterday, first when the BOA refused to ratify the athlete that GB Taekwondo had nominated to the team, Lutalo Muhammad, and then when GB Taekwondo fought back with a defensive statement in which it said that it would consider an appeal against the BOA’s decision. This is the first time that the BOA has rejected a nominated athlete in this way. It is also, therefore, the first time that one of the sports under its umbrella has fought back.
The nomination of Muhammad has now effectively been rejected three times. The first time, Sports Resolutions, an independent quasi-judicial body, told GB Taekwondo to re-select; the second time, the BOA said that it could not select Muhammad without more information; and the third time, yesterday, the BOA simply said that the body must re-select again.
It therefore seemed reasonable to suppose that GB Taekwondo would finally be forced to select Cook rather than Muhammad. However, its response instead was to release a public statement defending its selections and openly considering defending them in another appeal.
The BOA has gone steadfastly through the motions in challenging the nomination of Muhammad and although it now seems to be in direct and public disagreement with GB Taekwondo over the way the selection process has been carried out.
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If GB Taekwondo does not take the decision to appeal, it is instead bound by the BOA’s demand to reconvene its selection committee to reconsider the Cook versus Muhammad issue. The BOA’s statement yesterday strongly suggested that Cook had not been given a fair hearing.
It may not be in Cook’s favour that the five people who sit on the selection panel are likely to be the same five who selected Muhammad last time. However, in Cook’s favour is that the BOA has requested that it has an independent observer to ensure the process is properly conducted.
The BOA has also insisted that both are represented by their coach before the panel. This is a significant change because the first time Muhammad was selected, his own coach, Joseph Salim, was on the selection panel.