Monday, September 17, 2007

Olympic Taekwondo Lawsuit Dismissed

Nia Abdallah won the silver medal in women's Taekwondo at the 2004 Olympics.

On August 24, 2007, however, she lost a U.S. Olympic qualifying match to Diana Lopez. Subsequently, she hired a lawyer and filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) in the Southern District of Texas, contending that the refereeing of the match was unfair.

On September 14, 2007, Federal Judge Gary H. Miller entered an order dismissing the case. Judge Miller explained that the District Court did not have jurisdiction to determine the dispute, and that jurisdiction rested with the USOC, which has a procedure for addressing complaints.

I have posted the decision here in pdf format.

Abdallah will have another opportunity to qualify for the 2008 Olympic team at this week's World Taekwondo Union competition.

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