Olympic Tae Kwon Do: Cuba’s Ángel Matos Kicks Ref in Face, Banned For Life – Pics and Videos

Olympic Tae Kwon Do representative from Cuba, Ángel Matos, kicks the referee in the face out of anger and gets an instant lifetime ban for himself and his unapologetic coach.

I watched it on TV myself. Stunning! And shameful.

Matos was winning, 3-2, in the second round, when he fell to the mat after being hit by his opponent, Kazakhstan’s Arman Chilmanov. He remained there, awaiting medical attention, when he was disqualified for taking too much injury time. Fighters get one minute, and Matos was disqualified when his time ran out.

Matos angrily questioned the call, pushed a judge, then pushed and kicked the referee, Chakir Chelbat of Sweden. Matos then spat on the floor and was escorted out.

Slow-mo animated gif of the attack:

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NOTE: The videos keep getting removed so all I offer now in the way of actual YouTube is a YouTube search for Angel Matos.

Below are pics and animated gifs of the attack that I made from the videos before they got pulled.

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SIDE VIEW OF MATOS KICKING REFEREE

Animated gif of the kick:

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Still images:

And the follow up threats against the referee immediately after the strike:

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VARIOUS PHOTOS OF THE ATTACK

Individual photos taken from a Youtube video:

You can see the ref’s bloodied lip above.

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SEQUENCE OF EVENTS

Screenshots & captions, from a video that was pulled:

Matos’ foot collides with his Chilmanov’s knee.

Match officials come in to check on his injury.

Due to Matos taking too long rest time and being judged unable to continue due to a broken toe, Kazakhstan’s Arman Chilmanov is declared the winner of the match even though he was trailing 3-2.

Matos is indignant and outraged, but the officials refuse to reconsider.

Matos walks around in a huff. One wonders if his rage built up until he lost control, or he coldly considered teaching the referee a lesson.

At 2 minutes into the video, Matos walks casually past the ref, and in a split second…

He strikes and completes his attack on the ref. It looks like a turning/slapping kick to me.

Slow-mo animated gif of the attack, combining the previous images:

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He then stalks the referee, and the other officials stride towards him to contain the situation.

He confronts them threateningly, pushing and shouting. He didn’t try to assault them as well, probably because they’re all likely to be black belts and could team up to permanently cripple his sorry butt. Outside of movies, 1 vs 6 never works out for the 1. Except Chuck Norris.

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As the Wikipedia entry states, there was some controversy over the Olympic Tae Kwon Do matches rulings, including the Matos one.

His opponent could be in the wrong for kicking out when Matos’ leg was already in mid-kick, as if to intentionally block (and injure?) Matos’ leg. It looked that way to me when I first saw the footage. Matos and his couch could have brought their appeal higher up, with video evidence to back up their claim.

But Matos threw all high moral ground out the window by lashing out at the referee in vicious anger.

As a black belt holder in Tae Kwon Do (ITF), let me say that martial arts are not about kicking teeth in, pumping your ego or looking cool. Martial arts are about respect, discipline and self-control.

Matos showed none in attacking an official, thus signifying his failure to adhere to the tenets of Tae Kwon Do and the failure of his coach to teach him them.

And also:

Another thought: The Olympic referee was a motionless target for the cuban. The roundhouse kick only drew some blood. How is it that a free kick did not result in greater injury or knockout to the referee???

Check out these animated pictures to see Matos kicking the ref in slow mo. Might I say that that particular roundhouse kick was RUBBISH.

If Fidel Castro were still boss, Matos could expect to face public execution for this moronic outburst that brought shame to Cuba – in the great People’s Republic of China no less!

Either that, or Matos could have ended up a national hero for sticking it to the capitalist cronies of America and the misguided Communist rivals of the valiant Soviets. It really depends on the dictator’s current mood.

As for Ángel Matos, congratulations on getting himself an…

More mockery fun at Olympic Tae Kwon Do Cuba Kicks Ref Fun.

For another non-serious Olympic fail, see OLYMPIC BRA FAIL. (You know you want to. SFW, don’t worry…)

First photo and report coverage sourced via MROD nation.

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PS. Kudos to Dr. Shackleford for the linkage and massive influx of hits.

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Tags: angel matos video, Arman Chilmanov, attack referee, Ángel Matos, Cuba tae kwon do, cuba taekwondo, cuba tkd, kick referee, olympic fail, olympic tae kwon do