36 Rio officials stood down
The decision was taken following the completion of an AIBA Referees & Judges and Technical & Rules Commissions meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is not clear whether all members of the various commissions were informed of or attended the meeting in Lausanne.
The Rio Olympics were marred by poor officiating, not least Michael Conlan’s de feat to Russia’s Vladimir Nikitin in the bantamweight quarter-final. Fergal Carruth, CEO of the Irish Athletic Boxing Association, confirmed last week they had written to AIBA expressing concerns about judging at the Games. Belfast-native Conlan, who has since turned pro, said after the Nikitin decision he’ll never fight under an AIBA flag again and called the governing body for amateur boxing cheats.
A number of referees and judges were stood down in Rio after the Conlan versus Nikitin result and AIBA reassigned its Executive Director.
It’s unclear whether Tyrone’s Michael Gallagher was one of the R&Js sanctioned. However, he, along with the 25 other bout-officials at the Games, have now been side-lined.
AIBA also announced it has disbanded its 5-Star R&J programme. Gallagher is a 5-Star R&J. The 5-Stars, often called “The Magnificent Seven”, are paid between $40,000 and $50,000 plus expenses a year by AIBA and are professional boxing officials.
AIBA President CK Wu, who described Conlan’s reaction as unacceptable, admitted the sport was under the spotlight for wrong reasons at the 31st Olympiad.
An AIBA statement said: “The results of a specific R&J investigation, currently underway, will allow AIBA to assess what action needs to be taken. In the meantime, it has been decided all 36 R&Js used at the Olympic Games will not officiate at any AIBA event until the investigation reaches its conclusion.”
AIBA is also considering using five judges to score fights. Five judges currently score bouts but only three scores are used.
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