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Four boxing officials suspended
Posted: Friday July 31, 1998 10:09 PM
NEW YORK (AP) - A protest and threat by the Russian Boxing Federation led to the suspension of four officials from the finals of the Goodwill Games Friday. Arthur Tunstall of Australia, technical delegate to the competition from AIBA, the International Amateur Boxing Association, said the Russians did not protest specific bouts but were generally unhappy with judging in bouts involving their boxers. Suspended were referee-judges Macario Sosa of Guatemala and Alfredo Toledo of Cuba, referee Per-Olof Larsson of Sweden and judge Dieter Mica of Germany. "They were not happy and said they might take their boys home," Tunstall said of the Russians, who had two finalists in Friday night's six bouts and two boxers in Saturday night's six finals. Tunstall said the Russians agreed to keep their fighters in the tournament after the AIBA announced its action. "We didn't pay much attention to their pulling their boys out because that would have had dire circumstances," said Herb Embuldeniya of Canada, a member of the AIBA international jury. He said forfeiting the finals bouts could have led to the suspension of Russian boxers in future international competitions. "Certainly we are pleased that the Russians have decided to continue in the program," Tunstall said. Tunstall also said, "Boxing, as we know, is always a controversial sport." AIBA said it took the action after evaluating the Russian protest "that judgments made by the officials were biased and led to the elimination of their boxers." "Upon review of the judgments, it was decided by the AIBA international jury that suspensions of certain officials were warranted," Tunstall said. "It is an unfortunate incident, but we hope the AIBA action puts to rest any remaining questions or concerns." Russia's boxers had two tough nights in the semifinals. Only four of 14 Russian semifinalists advanced, and just one of them - featherweight Andrei Kozlovsky's 3-2 win over Michael Evans of the United States - won a close decision. The losses included a tiebreak given to American lightweight Jacob Hudson over Aleksandr Leonov and a 12-11 decision to U.S. light welterweight Ebo Elder over Dmitri Pavluchenkov. Goodwill Games officials said the rest of the tournament would take place as scheduled, despite the officiating pool being reduced to nine referee/judges for the last 12 bouts. "We regret that such action was necessary during this exciting boxing competition," Goodwill Games president Mike Plant said. "This decision is the most appropriate for all parties concerned, and we respect the action taken."
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