Judge rules Lee won't be reinstated as coach
By Stanley Lee
Advertiser Staff Writer
Honolulu's Dae Sung Lee will not be reinstated as the U.S. Olympic taekwondo coach.
U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway yesterday afternoon denied Lee's request that asked for reinstatement. However, Mollway did side with his claim that he was removed from his position on the basis of race in a 40-page report.
"We both feel it's a victory," said Lee's attorney Ward Jones. "We don't agree with everything but that's why there are judges. We feel she did a fine job."
Lee, 46, was removed from his position in April after the U.S. Taekwondo Union's Governance and Management Committee reevaluated the coach selection criteria and suggested he be replaced.
On July 28, Lee filed a $1 million federal lawsuit against the sport's governing body — the USTU — and the U.S. Olympic Committee, claiming he was removed because of his Korean heritage.
Jones claimed it was a victory since the USOC said arbitration was the way for settling such matters.
"Judge Mollway showed that that's not right and that federal court can hear claims of this type," Jones said.
Lee said Thursday that he will go to Athens on his own airfare to support the athletes regardless of Mollway's ruling.
Mollway's ruling came a day after a daylong hearing in Federal Court that included testimony via telephone from Athens.
Steven Lopez and Nia Abdallah, the only two athletes representing the U.S. at the Olympics, testified that Lee's presence in Athens as a coach would be a distraction.
"If Dae Sung Lee has any involvement coaching me in any way or form, it would distract me," Lopez said.
Abdallah said Lee's presence as an expert coach in Athens alongside her coach Chul Ho Kim "can throw off everything right now."
Lee, who coached Lopez to a pair of gold medals at the 2003 World Championships and Pan American Games and worked with Abdallah, said he was hurt by their comments but knew they didn't mean it.
"In my heart, I know they don't want to say that, but they have to," Lee said after Thursday's hearing.
He also apologized at that time to his athletes for inconveniencing them. The athletes didn't testify until close to midnight Athens time.
The union approved Lee as head coach in March 2003 and later sent him to Athens on a site visit. Lee's nomination was approved by the USOC that October.
The USTU's Governance and Management Committee was formed this past February as part of the remediation plan created by the union and the USOC. The union had over a decade's worth of fiscal problems and risked decertification by the USOC if it didn't accept the plan.
As part of the plan, all officers and members of the union's executive committee had to resign, alongside all union state presidents and delegate positions. Most of those removed were Korean Americans.
The committee's new selection criteria stated that the coach will be chosen based on the number of athletes a coach placed on the Olympic team and the coach's competition record between June 2003 and June 2004. During that time, both the World Championships and Pan American Games took place with the U.S. Olympic trials occurring this past June.
Lee had no athletes in the trials or events leading up to the trials said Kelly Skinner, director of Sports Partnership for the USOC, via telephone.
But when Lee took the stand, he said he couldn't coach any athletes at the time because he was the Olympic coach.
"Once you're announced as Olympic coach, you're not allowed to coach in preliminaries or finals because of conflict of interest," Lee said.
Lee said he met the second requirement in the coach selection criteria, pointing out Lopez's performances during that time.
On July 19, Jean Lopez, older brother and coach of Steven, was appointed as the taekwondo coach. Chul Ho Kim, Abdallah's coach, is a member of the staff in Athens.
Taekwondo starts on Aug. 26.
Reach Stanley Lee at slee@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8533.
