Building the Judging and Scoring Standard for Olympic Games; Study on Yang Tae Young case

The scandals and disputes of the recent Olympic Games is attributable to the IOC's unwillingness to intervene. The Bottom line is that international federations for each sport lack adequate judging and scoring standards that would preempt the eruption of dispute between athletes and nations. There comes the need for the IOC to aggressively reform judging and scoring standards for the Olympic Games. The IOC needs to develop standard guidelines for judging procedures and qualifications for judges to be enforced on the international federations for each sport. In Yang Tae Young case in 2004 Athens Games, the controversy surrounding the Gold Medal for the Men's All-Around Gymnastic competition created a heated dispute between the USOC, various US Senators, and the Korean NOC. Members of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee have legislative and oversight responsibility over the USOC. TUSOC and the Korean Olympic Committee met several times to discuss the dispute before its eventual resolution in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). This dispute took on a clearly political character. Both the USOC and the Korean Olympic Committee argued their claims in front of the CAS with an army of attorneys and at great expense, and it created a hazardous environment where nations became engaged in political disputes with each other over Olympic events. It is believed that there is an extremely dangerous potential in the Games if these types of judging and scoring disputes are not resolved. For that regard, the IOC also must rein in and eliminate the corruption of the international federations in order to resurrect the original spirit of fairness and competition. The IOC should establish its own judicial body over all Olympic-related disputes to review disputes that arise throughout the course of the Games. The IOC should use its own overarching judging and scoring standards and also the approved international federation rules to judge disputes. The immediately enforceable and final decisions of IOC would provide for a more immediate method of dispute resolution, which would eliminate the lag time experienced by appeals to the CAS. This might help alleviate the tensions between countries that are defending their athletes by eliminating the waiting period when political posturing has time to heat up the argument. These suggestions should be implemented immediately. The IOC can use its authority of patronage over the international federations to pass the judging and scoring standards. Within the Olympic Charter, international federations are bound to work to aid in the Olympic Movement. In this spirit, the international federations should work to make the IOC's transition into an active role as smooth as possible. It is in the best interest of the IOC, international federations, national Olympic committees, nations, athletes, and the audience for the judging and scoring of the Games to be reformed.