(ATR) The International Boxing Association is reviewing its referees and judges following disputed results from the Rio 2016 Olympics.
The 36 referees and judges who oversaw the Rio Games are not allowed to officiate any matches during an ongoing investigation by AIBA’s Referees & Judges and Technical & Rules Commissions.
AIBA stressed to Around the Rings that the officials are not technically suspended and added that "Rio 2016 results will stand regardless of the investigation". AIBA could not provide a timeline for the completion of the investigation.
"The commission will take all the time necessary to ensure that every aspect we have identified as requiring attention has been addressed," AIBA spokesperson Nicolas Jomard tells ATR.
Jomard says that AIBA still has 30 qualified officials who can judge matches until the investigation is concluded.
The suspicion that some matches in Rio were not officiated fairly led to AIBA expelling "a handful" of referees from Olympic matches. The incident is leading to a full blown reform of AIBA’s R&J standards.
"While the majority of the boxing competition in Rio 2016 was received very positively thanks to the high level of boxing… a small number of decisions under debate indicated that further reforms in the AIBA R&J procedures were necessary in order to ensure full transparency moving forward," AIBA said in a statement.
Along with the current investigation, AIBA is seeking to reform its judges certification program, the number of judges who score each bout and the way those officials are chosen.
"The commissions in Lausanne last week reviewed the current global R&J certification program and came to the conclusion that the current 5 star program, despite experienced R&J presence, was not the optimal system going forward versus the organization’s future objectives in this field," Jomard says.
"It was also recommended that the Draw of the R&J’s for each bout will now be automated via our supplier Swiss Timing, and no longer conducted by a three-person Draw Commission to instill greater transparency," AIBA said.
The proposed reforms are set to be voted on at the AIBA extraordinary congress in December 2016.
Written by Kevin Nutley
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