KUALA LUMPUR — The Philippines on Monday filed a protest after Arven Alcantara was disqualified during the men's gold medal match in the taekwondo competitions in the Southeast Asian Games.
The featherweight division final against Rozaimi Bin Rozali of Malaysia was stopped as officials declared Alcantara had reached the maximum number of 10 penalties, although the Filipino jin only had nine.
[See Filipino jin Samuel Morrison downs Indonesian rival to claim taekwondo lightweight gold]
Taekwondo national team manager Dindo Simpao confirmed they filed the protest upon the instruction of the Philippine Olympic Committee, although it was more of a statement about the conduct of the tournament, than overturning the decision.
"It was instructed by our POC president Peping Cojuangco to pursue the protest on that particular match between Arven Alcantara and his Malaysian opponent," said Simpao in an interview over Sports Radio 918.
"To put it bluntly, it is not in the spirit of fair play," said Simpao.
"There were no proper grounds for the protest to prosper but (it is more of) making a statement," said Simpao.
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