Olympic boxing officials to try new judging system

After the global amateur boxing body – AIBA – had to move out of the organisation of the boxing events at the next Olympics, a special task force has taken over. There were a series of judging issues at the Rio Olympics and this time around, the organisers want to ensure that this crucial part in Olympic boxing is properly taken care of.

As per an AFP report, the Olympic boxing officials are going for a trial run of a new judging system where the scores will be updated real-time and it will be tested at the Ryogoku Kokugikan Sumo Stadium in Tokyo.

According to Morinari Watanabe, a Japanese Olympic Committee official who heads the task force, Boxing is “on the verge of the crisis of elimination from the Olympics”. “We have to regain trust. That’s the top priority,” he added. 

Under the new system, the judges will have to press a button when they mark blows and their decisions will be immediately shown on a screen. This will be helpful in providing instant feedback and grounds for clarifying decisions.

“The most important thing is that judgments should be fair and transparent,” Watanabe said.