Commonwealth trials — a bane than a boon?
Hand of the winner was raised during the first phase but as much as 12 final bouts finished without the winner being announced
Two boxing clubs — Air Force BC and Kingswood BC — have made official protests to Amateur Boxing Association of Sri Lanka (ABA) highlighting ‘malpractice’ or simply not going by the AIBA rules and regulations at a recent trial meet held to pick pugilist for the upcoming Commonwealth Games 2022. The trial meet, first of many as highlighted by ABA, however did not have the usual sporty ambiance according to most coaches and pugilists that were part of the three-day competition that was held during end November at MAS Royal Arena.
Air Force BC claimed that the meet officials have subjected its pugilist M.Y.M. Dilshan, into ‘severe injustice’ in the 69kg Welterweight class in a five-page letter while Kingswood BC, in a one page letter, has stated that Niraj Wijewardena, who competed in the 75kg Middleweight class, was not declared the winner or selected to the squad, despite unofficially having a 3-2 advantage at the end of the bout.
The letter sent to ABA by Air Force BC highlights of ‘incidents occurred unfairly against most outstanding boxers’ from their club, who have ‘contributed immensely to keep the Sri Lankan flag high in national and international boxing arena’ and points out incidents occurred during the Bout No.48, in which Air Force’s M.Y.M. Dilshan fought against Sri Lanka Army’s V. Niklas.
The letter explains of an incident that occurred during the second round of the bout, where the Army boxer had continued attacking the Airman ‘not complying with referee’s command to stop while Dilshan was down’.
“Due to this the referee administered an eight count and the decision was given as KO (knockout) whereas the decision could have been disqualification as per the AIBA rule book. Above foul has been clearly described as a flagrant foul under following rules in the AIBA rule book,” the letter explains.
Air Force pugilist Dilshan has represented the country at many international meets
The AIBA rules highlighted by Air Force BC with regard to the incident its pugilist had to experience has been noted as — Misconduct and unsportsmanlike behaviour of the boxer (Rule No. 19.8.5), Attacking an opponent who is down or who is in the act of rising (Rule No. 21.1.13) and Not obeying with referee’s command (Rule No. 23) — despite the Army boxer was given repeated cautions and referee administered a warning against him during the bout.
Air Force BC further details of ‘unfair categorisation of its boxer I.P.D.C. Udayakumara’, who contested under the 64kg Light Welterweight class, while stating that technical delegates failed to consider to apply proper seeding provided by its own coaches. The letter proposes ABA to consider all technical flaws occurred during the meet and include the ‘outstanding’ young boxers to the national pool and give them a fair opportunity to prove their talent.
“As per AIBA’s code of conduct ‘boxing for a clean sport’, we trust impartiality of governing body of Sri Lankan boxing and expect equal opportunity for these young outstanding boxers,” the letter further stated.
Meanwhile Kingswood BC, in a letter dated December 5, 2021 to the ABA, details the achievements of its boxer Niraj Wijewardana as a ‘well-known boxer who has won competitions at national round in Sri Lanka’.
“It is no secret that we see his opponent defeated at the end of final fight. It is fact that we all know that fight was watched by the entire Sri Lankan audience and on social media with from different part of the world. At the end of the fight we heard from the referees but the unofficial results was that Niraj had won 3-2. However it’s unfortunate that W.M.G. Ariyaratne (Navy boxer) has been selected,” the Kingswood BC letter said.
At the end of the 75kg Middleweight class bout, witnesses stated that the usual protocol of raising the winner’s hand to officially announce and declare the winner and loser was not followed. Even those who were around the ring after the bout were clueless of what really occurred after it was over.It is reported that as much as 12 final bouts ended in similar fashion.
In addition many were surprised to see an official serving a suspension imposed by International Olympic Committee (IOC), playing an active role in the meet at a higher capacity. The said referee and judge was one of the many suspended by the IOC for ‘malpractices’ that took place in boxing at Rio Olympics in 2016. Attempts made by the Sunday Times to obtain clarification from ABA were futile.
At the end of the trial meet it was reported that ABA have selected a national pool 19 — 13 men and six women — based on the performances but it was also noted that the outcomes of the meet were not announced publicly due to the fact that 12 of the final bouts were unexpectedly not ‘sporty’.