Daily Times

LAUSANNE: All 36 referees and judges used at the 2016 Games and suspended since October would now be eligible for reinstatement “on a case by case basis”, the International Boxing Association (AIBA) said. “Not all of them will be reinstated,” an AIBA spokesman told AFP. Amateur boxing’s ruling body made the announcement it had concluded its inquiry into the officiating that clouded action in the ring at the Rio Olympics. “An extensive series of courses and workshops is being implemented to grow and enhance the pool of first-class officials around the world,” the AIBA reported in a statement. It added that recommendations to take the sport forward to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics “are already being put in place”. A number of referees and judges were sent home from Rio as several beaten fighters alleged they had been the victim of poor or even corrupt judging. The AIBA was put on the defensive at the August Games after at least two highly debatable judging decisions, the most contentious being in the heavyweight final. Kazakh Vassiliy Levit appeared to have given Evgeny Tishchenko a thorough hiding, but the judges inexplicably made the Russian a unanimous points winner – he was consequently booed up to the podium. The next day Irish bantamweight world champion Michael Conlan launched a foul-mouthed tirade at the AIBA saying he had been “robbed” of his Olympic dream, again at the hands of a Russian, Vladimir Nikitin.