AIBA sidelines all referees and judges used at Rio Olympics amid inquiry

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/oct/06/aiba-sideline-all-referee-and-judges-used-at-rio-olympics-pending-an-investigation-boxing The Amateur International Boxing Association (AIBA) has sidelined all 36 referees and judges used at the Rio Olympics until an investigation has been concluded. The boxing tournament at the Games in August was embroiled in controversy over the new ‘10 point must’ scoring system, with allegations by some beaten boxers that they were ‘robbed’ of victory. That was exact phrase used by the father of Gary Antuanne Russell after the USA boxer lost his light-middleweight quarter-final to Uzbekistan’s Fazliddin Gaibnazarov in a split-decision. The Irish boxer Michael Conlan accused the AIBA of corruption “from the core right to the top” after losing in the bantamweight quarter-finals to the Russian Vladimir Nikiti. “While the majority of the boxing competition in Rio 2016 was received very positively ... a small number of decisions under debate indicated that further reforms in the AIBA R&J procedures were necessary,” the AIBA said in a statement. “Initial decisions were made on-site during Rio 2016 to ensure the smooth running of the rest of the competition. The results of a specific R&J investigation, currently under way, will allow AIBA to fully assess what action needs to be taken. “In the meantime, it has been decided that all 36 R&Js that were used at the Olympic Games will not officiate at any AIBA event until the investigation reaches its conclusion, along with further immediate measures adopted by the commissions.” AIBA dropped a number of unidentified judges and referees during the competition, after finding that “less than a handful” of the decisions from 239 bouts reviewed were not at the level expected. It also reassigned its French executive director Karim Bouzidi to a new role.