Boxing officials from Rio 2016 banned from 2020 Olympics

None of the 36 referees and judges used at the Rio 2016 boxing competition will be allowed to officiate at Tokyo 2020, an International Olympic Committee task force has said.

Several judges and referees were sent home from Rio after a number of questionable decisions during the boxing tournament.

At Tokyo, referees and judges will be picked from a pool of International Boxing Association (AIBA) certified officials, who have been reviewed to ensure they meet the criteria.

“The main objective of the IOC boxing task force is to ensure the completion of the mission of delivering events, while putting the boxers first, and with transparent and credible sporting results and fair play,” said boxing task force chair Morinari Watanabe.

An investigation by the AIBA in 2017 found no interference in results and recommended that the Rio judges be reintegrated on a “case-by-case basis”, but the IOC’s new selection criteria has now ruled them ineligible for the Tokyo Games.

The task force said its decision followed discussions with athletes to increase clarity, transparency and integrity in the selection process and officiating at the Olympics.

Scores from all judges at the end of each round will also now be displayed publicly during qualifying competitions and the Games.

Irish bantamweight Michael Conlan, who said he was “robbed”, and Kazakhstan’s Vassiliy Levit lost bouts in which they both appeared to win comfortably during Rio 2016.

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