Multiple Olympic boxing officials have been expelled from the games as corruption allegations fly over a bizarre match where a fighter was knocked down five times and still judged winner.
Japanese fighter Satoshi Shimizu knocked down Azerbaijan's Magomed Abdulhamidov five times in the third round of their bantamweight match on Wednesday.
Referee Ishanguly Meretnyyazov failed to give a standing count on each knock down despite the stunned fighter struggling to keep his feet.
Abdulhamidov was then judged the winner of the bout 22-17, in a decision met with jeers from the crowd and disbelief from commentators.
The AIBA reversed the result of the match on review, ruling Meretnyyazov should have given a standing eight count on at least three occasions.
A statement released by the organisation said Meretnyyazov was "on his way home" due to his errors.
It also expelled Azerbaijan technical official Aghajan Abiyev for "a number of breaches of the code of conduct" and suspended German referee Frank Scharmach for five days for a controversial decision to disqualify an Iranian heavyweight earlier in the games.
Azerbaijan boxing officials were the focus of corruption allegations last September, when BBC Newsnight revealed secret payments they had made to the AIBA affiliate organisation World Series Boxing.
Whistleblowers said the payments were made in return for a guarantee Azerbaijan would win two gold medals at the Olympics.
AIBA president Ching-Kuo Wu then said allegations the payments were aimed at fixing medals was "totally untrue and ludicrous".
However, his statement issued today admits the organisation had to act to protect the "integrity and fair-play" of its competitions.
"I deeply regret that we had to take these decisions," he said. "However, our main concern has been and will always be the protection of the integrity and fair-play of our competitions. I will take all possible steps to reinforce this."
-Herald online
