London24NEWS

Boxing judges ‘liable to manipulating fights’ officiated at Olympics

  • Emil Gurbanaliyev and Sergei Krutasov have officiated at Paris Olympics 
  • Gurbanaliyev and Sergei Krutasov were both stood down in 2021 

Two boxing judges that were deemed to be at high risk of manipulating fights have officiated over 20 bouts between them at the Paris Olympics so far.

As reported by The Times, Emil Gurbanaliyev and Sergei Krutasov were both stood down in 2021 but were selected by the Paris Boxing Unit to be involved as technical officials at the Games.

They had previously been removed from the referees and judges pool at the AIBA World Championships in Serbia in October 2021 after they were randomly selected for integrity testing by Professor Richard McLaren, who exposed state-sponsored doping in Russia.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) stated that Gurbanaliyev and Krutasov had both passed background checks. In addition, the IOC said that they did not have access to McLaren’s findings due to the information having not been made publicly available.

The IOC has organised the boxing at the Games, with the International Boxing Association having been stripped of its recognition last year amid various concerns. 

Two boxing judges that were deemed to be at high risk of manipulating fights have officiated over 20 bouts between them at the Paris Olympics so far (Sergei Krutasov pictured centre)

Two boxing judges that were deemed to be at high risk of manipulating fights have officiated over 20 bouts between them at the Paris Olympics so far (Sergei Krutasov pictured centre)

Emil Gurbanaliyev, along with Krutasov, was stood down in 2021 following integrity testing

Emil Gurbanaliyev, along with Krutasov, was stood down in 2021 following integrity testing

Krutasov and Gurbanaliyev were two of the five judges in charge as Wassila Lkhadiri beat Daina Moorehouse

Krutasov and Gurbanaliyev were two of the five judges in charge as Wassila Lkhadiri beat Daina Moorehouse

There have been concerns over some of the scorecards in Paris, with Team GB of the belief that four of their five first-round fights were incorrectly judged.

Although Gurbanaliyev and Krutasov were not involved in those bouts, they were two of the five judges in charge as France’s Wassila Lkhadiri was controversially deemed to have beaten Daina Moorehouse of Ireland.

Commenting on the involvement of Gurbanaliyev and Krutasov at the Games, McLaren said: ‘It’s possible they (the IOC) didn’t know about Gurbanaliyev and Krutasov. What I would have liked to have done is gone through these tests that we run [with them].’ 

McLaren stated that while Gurbanaliyev and Krutasov have not subsequently been used in international competition by the IBA, their exclusion does not encompass other amateur boxing federations.