Ho Chi Minh City Karate Federation denies accusations of giving up medals

"The match result was that the green belt athlete had 3 points and the red belt athlete had 11 points, a difference of 8 points. The red belt athlete won according to the Competition rules. 10/10 situations reflected in the petition were incorrect," the announcement said.

This conclusion was made after the Ho Chi Minh City Karate Federation established a neutral referee team to re-evaluate and compare the results of the tournament's referee team, at the request of the Ho Chi Minh City Sports Training and Competition Center.

Previously, on the evening of August 19, Mr. Nguyen Manh Duong posted a video on his personal page of the final match of the 11-12 age group at the 2024 Ho Chi Minh City Talented - Youth Karate Tournament. According to him, after winning the Kihon gold medal with her teammates, on the same afternoon, his daughter Nguyen Thanh Mai (born in 2013, representing Tan Binh district) competed in the women's individual Kumite 45kg event. She quickly won both matches to enter the final, meeting her opponent from Binh Thanh district. After that, the referee team suddenly announced on the loudspeaker that Thanh Mai was injured, so the athlete from Binh Thanh district was awarded the gold medal.

When Mr. Duong went to the referee table to ask for the reason, the head of the Tan Binh karate team, Nguyen Thi Mong Tam, said, "Binh Thanh District has few medals, they asked for them, we (Tan Binh) have many so we give them one." Mr. Duong turned to complain to the coach about the family's time, effort, and expenses for their daughter to practice, so they could not make a deal, adults could not force their children to cheat like that, and received a similar answer. This coach even said, "If we let them fight, Mai would also be considered a loser."

In response to Mr. Duong's reaction, the match was still played. "But the referees did an unbelievable scoring," the parent added, emphasizing that the referee team did not maintain an objective and fair attitude as they were responsible for. As a result, Thanh Mai lost 3-11.

After the incident caused a stir on social networks, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Culture and Sports directed the Tan Binh District Culture and Sports Center and relevant parties to meet and investigate the incident.

On August 23, Tan Binh unit worked with Mr. Duong, Ms. Mong Tam (head coach of Tan Binh karate team) and Ms. Nguyen Tran Gia Nhu (coach of Nguyen Thanh Mai). In the explanation, Ms. Tam affirmed that she did not say the statement "Binh Thanh district has few medals, they ask for them, we have many so we give them one" as Mr. Duong accused.

Ms. Mong Tam only admitted that she told Mr. Duong that "If I said anything, I would still lose." She explained that the reason she did not let Thanh Mai compete in the final was because she was worried about her injury and the difference in skill level, because this athlete only specializes in Kihon (performance) and is not strong in Kumite (competition).

Coach Gia Nhu also confirmed the same thing.

On the contrary, Mr. Manh Duong still affirmed that Ms. Mong Tam had made statements as he accused. "If Ms. Mong Tam does not admit to suggesting that Binh Thanh receive a medal, please invite her to confront me," he affirmed.

After being asked to report and re-evaluate the match, the referees also held a technical meeting. Accordingly, they said that the referees had conducted the match in accordance with the laws and regulations in the first notice. "The match took place openly, transparently, ensuring neutrality," the referees' explanation said.

It is expected that after synthesizing the results from relevant parties, the Department of Culture and Sports of Ho Chi Minh City will meet to consider handling any violations, if any.