The officiating at the London 2012 Olympic Boxing tournament has hit a new low overnight as Team USA boxer, Errol Spence lost on points to India’s Krishan Vikas before appealing the decision and having the result overturned.
It’s yet another hit for AIBA after the opening week of the competition has been plagued with poor judging and refereeing decisions.
Three Australian’s including 17-year-old Jai Opetaia were bundled out of the tournament on the back of poor decisions.
Opetaia took on world number 1, Teymur Mammadov on Thursday morning and after the fight was tied through two rounds, Opetaia in many peoples books did enough to progress to the Round of 16. The judges saw otherwise awarding the fight to Mammadov.
On the same morning there was yet more drama.
Referee, Ishanguly Meretnyyazov was handed a suspension following his poor performance in the fight between Satoshi Shimizu (Japan) and Magomed Abdulhamidov (Azerbaijan). The referee allowed Abdulhamidov to fall on the ground in the final round without calling any knockdowns or warnings.
Japan appealed the result and the decision was reversed, after their boxer originally lost 22-17.
The scoring system has also come under fire this week. UK boxer, Anthony Ogogo was awarded a countback victory over Ukraine’s Ievgen Khyrtov after their fight finished 52-52.
But the official Olympic website’s scorecard had the Ukraine boxer winning 53-52.
Team Ukraine appealed the decision, but were not successful after it was found that the official judges scorecards had the 52-52 total and Ogogo progressed.
When are the governing body going to take responsibility for their officials? Athletes put their bodies through hell for four years to get their chance to go to the Olympics, only for the judges to rip them off.
LeBron James is going back to the Olympics for the first time in 12 years. Steph Curry is headed to the games for the…
Olyroos coach Tony Vidmar is refusing to put a line through Nestory Irankunda's hopes of playing at the Paris Olympics after claiming he is…
The 2023-24 NBA season promised so much for the Australian contingent - for a few it’s been the ideal runway to the Paris Olympics…
Basketball superstar Lauren Jackson has been included in the extended Opals squad for the Paris Olympics, despite announcing her retirement from the international scene.…
The Brisbane Olympics stadiums fiasco has had wild twists and turns in just the last few days, but we still might not have seen…
Olympic swimming legend and Australian Sports Commission boss Kieren Perkins has warned that "someone will die" if a multi-sport event that allows athletes to…
