BRISBANE - The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) on Monday axed taekwondo from its roster of Olympic sports.
The decision came after Taekwondo Australia (TA) last month sacked a range of senior staff and closed its high performance unit.
Australian athletes will still be able to compete at the Beijing Olympics, however, with the AOC undertaking to provide training facilities and funding for national squad members.
The AOC says it acted after athletes vying for Olympic Games selection were turned away from their training bases in Melbourne and Canberra just weeks before a vital qualifying tournament in New Caledonia.
Two weeks ago TA terminated the services of its head coach, assistant head coach, junior development coach, CEO, high performance managers and two independent selectors.
On October 19, TA instructed its national sports council to close down its high performance centre in Melbourne and sell all the equipment.
The AOC said it was working with the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) to organise a training camp for Olympic hopefuls at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra this weekend.
