Taekwondo chiefs have apologised for branding Taiwan's Yang Shu-chun a cheat after she was disqualified at the Asian Games for wearing illegal super socks, a report said. The Asian Taekwondo Union's vice-president and deputy secretary general formally offered the apology in a closed-door meeting with the Taiwan taekwondo team Saturday afternoon, Taipei's Central News Agency reported. Protests in Taiwan have raged since medal hopeful Yang was disqualified on Wednesday for trying to wear extra scoring sensors in her socks for a women's 49kg match against a Vietnamese opponent. The spat escalated when the ATU website was attacked by hackers after it carried a statement which condemned the athlete for a 'shocking act of deception' even though an official inquiry was pending. Taiwan's government demanded an apology for the statement and the disqualification, claiming it was unjust. When asked about the demand, ATU president Lee Dai-Soon said: 'As the ATU, we have nothing to decide now.' He added that his organisation was still waiting for a formal report from the competition's supervisory committee. Chen Chien-ping,the Taiwan taekwondo chief, said the case has been been transferred to the South Korea-based World Taekwondo Federation. 'The ATU's Thai vice-president told us that he will come up with a report based on our statements, which will be presented to the world federation, ' Chen said, according to the Central News Agency. Yang was kicked out of the taekwondo competition when officials found she was wearing a detachable, electronic sensor patch attached to the outside of each of her socks. The fight went on after the patches were removed. But the bout was stopped and Yang was disqualified when she was leading 9-0 in the first round as the patches were formally ruled illegal. Fighters are required to wear socks with built-in sensors which help the electronic system score points when they hit other sensors on the opponent's body gear. Extra sensors can boost scoring chances. Meanwhile, more than 6,000 people have signed off on a website to welcome Yang Shu-chun at Taoyuan airport outside Taipei when she and the other members of Taiwan's taekwondo team are scheduled to fly back around 1100 GMT Monday, the TVBS news network said. The government has also thrown its weight behind Yang. 'I have ordered the premier or the deputy premier to welcome her at the airport,' Ma told thousands of people gathering in Chungho, a city outside Taipei, during an election campaign. 'We want her to know that she will be treated exactly as a gold medalist even though she was set up, wrongly accused and had failed to get a gold medal.' bur-sps/dj10 