Tokyo (AFP)
Officials at the Olympic boxing tournament said they were confident in the new scoring system experienced on Thursday in Tokyo, set up to bring more transparency to a sport embroiled in scandals, ahead of the 2020 Olympics.
The new computerized system, which will make the judges' score visible in real time, has been tested at the Ryogoku Kokugikan Sumo Stadium, site of the Olympic Boxing Trials next summer in Tokyo.
"The mistrust of the judges is enormous, we work hard for justice," said Morinari Watanabe, president of the International Gymnastics Federation and IOC member, in charge of the working group in charge of organizing the Olympic boxing tournament. was deprived the International Federation (AIBA) for big problems of governance.
Watanabe said he was "confident" that the new system will bring more transparency and produce a score "fairer and easier for spectators to understand".
With this new system, the five judges press a button for each valid shot worn by the boxers, one in blue and the other in red, and their score appears on a screen controlled by a supervisor.
Real-time scoring may also be visible to spectators, which will be decided later.
The novelty seemed to satisfy the officials present but also revealed the need to make some adjustments. Japanese judge Norio Tezuka, who participated in the test, admitted to pressing the wrong button because the "blue" boxer was wearing a red helmet.
Boxing has produced many questionable and disputed verdicts during its history, such as the Rio 2016 Olympics where several judges and referees were suspended for arranged fights.
Embroiled in governance problems, boxing was threatened with exclusion from the Games, which was finally maintained but deprived of the organization of the 2020 Olympic tournament.
© 2019 AFP