Athens, Greece ? The fax from the Korean delegation came over about 5 p.m. local time. It looked a little like a surrender flag.

The reigning Olympic champions of freestyle protest filing wanted to cancel their reservation for one of the interview rooms in the Main Press Center here. The news conference with gymnast Yang Tae Young was off, the fax read, “due to inevitable reasons.”

The Koreans reserved the room in coordination with the International Gymnastics Federation’s planned 4 p.m. announcement that Paul Hamm had agreed to give up his gold medal and give it to Yang.

That announcement never came. Probably the wording the Koreans were looking for in their second language was “evident” or “obvious” reasons.

“Paul got to enjoy one evening as the Olympic champion and then woke up to find himself caught up in a controversy that was not his fault,” said Jim Scherr, chief executive of the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Scherr was speaking Friday at a news conference called by the USOC to embarrass FIG.

(This seems more confusing than it is. The true name of the organization is the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique because French sounds more official. That makes the acronym FIG. As in FIG leaf. As in something you use to cover the embarrassing parts.)

The USOC made public a letter sent from FIG president Bruno Grandi to Hamm. In the letter, Grandi praises Hamm for his performance in the men’s all-around and then says that “the true winner of the All-Around competition is Yang Tae Young.” He goes on to ask Hamm to “return your medal to the Korean.”

“Deplorable,” said USOC chef de mission (see, they really like to use French) Herman Frazier.

“Callous,” said Scherr.

“Deflecting blame for their incompetence on a young athlete,” said Peter Ueberroth, chairman of the USOC board of directors.

The USOC poobahs were especially aggrieved because Grandi hinted in his letter that the IOC also wanted Hamm to give up his medal. IOC president Jacques Rogge, who earlier announced there would be no duplicate gold for Yang, told them the IOC had said no such thing.

“They do not support the contents of this letter,” Scherr said. “They were not involved in the drafting of this letter, and they do not in way feel an athlete should have been placed in this position.”

Hamm did not make a statement. He has said that he has no plans to give up his medal.

A quick recap: Hamm won the gold medal by 12 thousandths of a point in spite of falling during his vault. Yang was the leader going into the final round. After the competition, the Korean delegation filed a protest saying the judges had made a mistake that cost Yang one-tenth of a point on the parallel bars. A FIG review showed that the judges were wrong, and FIG immediately suspended three judges.

For the majority of folks who aren’t interested in the arcane world of gymnastics judging, imagine this. On Monday mornings in the fall, NFL officials in New York review the videotape of every game from Sunday. They give and take points from teams based on whether officials missed a holding penalty or a sideline call or a pass interference.

On Tuesday, two days after the games, they announce the final results.

Would you want to watch a football game if that’s how it worked? If what you were seeing didn’t necessarily count?