"Claimed 'I hit to calm the player,' sparking controversy"
Argued with referee after being restrained
A man who is both a coach and a father was caught slapping his 8-year-old daughter’s cheek after she lost in the finals of a Taekwondo competition, sparking outrage among netizens worldwide. On the 13th (local time), the British Daily Mail released a video with the headline, "Father of 8-year-old Taekwondo star criticized after slapping his defeated daughter’s face."
An image capturing a man, who is both the coach and father, slapping his 8-year-old daughter after she lost in the finals of a Taekwondo competition has sparked outrage among netizens worldwide. X (X)
The video was taken at the European Children’s Taekwondo Championship finals held in Tirana, the capital of Albania. In this final match, 8-year-old Balina Petiu faced off against a Serbian child athlete. After the match ended, Balina, who lost in the finals, approached her coach and father, who then removed Balina’s headgear and slapped her cheek.
When a referee immediately intervened upon witnessing this, the man argued with the referee before packing up and leaving the frame. Balina, who was assaulted, was comforted by another referee while shedding tears. The media reported, "The father claimed he slapped his athlete (daughter) just to calm her down, which only drew more criticism," and added, "He was subsequently suspended for six months from all international and domestic activities by the European Taekwondo Union."
In the final of the European Children's Taekwondo Championship held in Albania, 8-year-old Valina Petiu, representing Kosovo, was slapped by her coach and father after losing. Photo by X
Netizens who saw the video reacted with comments such as, "It’s even more absurd that he’s not just a coach but her father," "I worry that the sport was started because of the father’s own ambitions," "Winning a silver medal is already impressive, this is really too much," "Violence must disappear from sports," "It’s shocking that such violence still happens," and "If he behaves like that in public, I’m worried about how he treats her during training or in unseen places." One netizen wrote, "The fundamental spirit of Taekwondo is 'courtesy,' training mutual respect and care, but that coach and father didn’t even uphold the basic spirit of Taekwondo and should be permanently banned."
Meanwhile, this year marks the 100th anniversary of the adoption of the International Declaration of the Rights of the Child, known as the Geneva Declaration, by the League of Nations?the predecessor of the United Nations (UN)?in 1924. The International Declaration of the Rights of the Child was drafted based on the Declaration of the Rights of the Child announced in 2023 by Eglantyne Jebb, the founder of Save the Children, and is the first international document concerning children’s human rights.
The Declaration of the Rights of the Child from over 100 years ago emphasizes five key points: ▲Children must receive material, moral, and emotional support necessary for normal development ▲Hungry children must be fed, sick children treated, developmentally delayed children helped, wayward children given opportunities to return, and children without guardians provided with housing and necessary support ▲Children must be given top priority protection in disaster situations ▲Children must live in environments where survival is guaranteed and be protected from all forms of exploitation ▲Children must be raised to understand that their talents should be used for the advancement of humanity.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
