Sitting on the edge of the ring for long minutes, Mourad Aliev refuses to leave the scene. This Olympic sit-in is the consequence of the disqualification of the Frenchman during his quarter-final in the + 91 kg category, Sunday 1er August, against Briton Frazer Clarke.
As soon as the decision is announced, Aliev denounces an injustice and takes a break. “Damn, this is unfair”, loose the 26-year-old from Lille by spitting then hitting his mouthguard like a football, before distributing a few arms of honor behind the referee’s back.
??? The great anger of Mourad Aliev after his disqualification because of several head shots to his opponent… https://t.co/7RIEjfqHRu
Leading after the first round in a fight that could secure him a medal in these 2021 Toyko Games, Aliev was disqualified in the second for alleged head shots on his opponent open to both arcades.
During the match, Clarke had to be treated twice by the left browbone and it was after the second treatment that the referee, bringing together the boxers, announced his decision, which was not obvious from the images.
Once out of the ring, the Frenchman regained his composure, but still denounced a “scandal” at the microphone of France Televisions. “They admit that they made a mistake, but as it is written, they cannot reverse the decision. It is a scandal “, lamented the boxer.
“The supervisor attests to an error in arbitration, he says that there is no error on the part of Mourad, but they can not do anything”, adds the national technical director, John Dovid, present at his side.
??? French boxer Mourad Aliev was disqualified because of several head butts to his opponent. a decision … https://t.co/bspCvgqFO2
Boxing already in the hot seat
“We tried to do a sit-in, continues the DTN. It didn’t work out, they just had to call the police to dislodge us, so we’re going to leave and go home. “ The elimination of Aliev marks the end of hopes for medals for France in boxing in Tokyo, since no tricolor representative is in contention. The Rio Games in 2016 and their tremendous harvest (six medals, two titles) seem very far away.
This controversy is added to many others for a sport threatened with expulsion by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Already plagued by serious governance problems, including accusations of corruption by some of its referees, the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) has seen the organization of its own Olympic tournament withdrawn by the IOC. A first for a world federation.
With the Aliev episode and others during this tournament, the “noble art” probably did not score points for its presence in Paris in 2024. “I was already disappointed with Olympic boxing, but now I have no words”, concluded a bitter Mourad Aliev. For his part, Dominique Nato, the president of the French Boxing Federation, filed a complaint with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
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