LAUSANNE: All 36 referees and judges used at the Rio Olympic boxing have been removed for the time being as the sport’s amateur governing body investigates the officiating which overshadowed the action in the ring, it said on Thursday (Friday in Manila). “Rio 2016 was a watershed moment for AIBA. Boxing was in the spotlight for positive reasons, but occasionally also for the wrong ones,” AIBA president Wu Ching-Kuo said, after top officials held talks in Lausanne, Switzerland this week to discuss how to avoid more controversy when Olympic boxing takes centre stage once more in Tokyo in 2020. Despite the judging controversies the AIBA said it would stick with the “10-point must system” of scoring bouts based on the same method of scoring professional fights. “This will be even more closely monitored in the future and firm disciplinary action will be taken when necessary.”AFP

Source: Manila Times October 07, 2016 15:56 UTC