With two major events coming to a close, the International Boxing Association (AIBA) is pleased to report that the changes and updates with regards to its Refereeing and judging (R&Js) system and regulations are being positively received by athletes and technical officials alike.

Since 2016, AIBA has fully revamped its R&Js management systems to foster a culture of transparency and fair play, in and out of the boxing ring. The new system in place was tested for the first time during the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina and yet again at the recent 2019 AIBA Women’s World Championships in Delhi, India. PriceWaterhouseCooper (PwC), the leading audit firm in Switzerland was charged with the independent monitoring and reviewing during the first implementation. PwC positively reviewed the new systems, indicating that the changes made were good and producing the desired results. Highlighted changes include:

• The return of having five judges’ scores a bout;
• The removal of the President and Executive Director from the appointment and approval process of Referee and Judges;
• The development of a computerized draw system for appointing Referees and Judges to a bout;
• The appointment of an observer position into the Field of Play;
• The increased number and quality of courses offered for training Referees and Judges;
• The improvement of AIBA’s database so that Referees and Judges can be evaluated over time as opposed to event by event.

Noteworthy, is the establishment of a protest system for Coaches and Athletes which has been approved, tested and is set to be implemented in 2019 at the AIBA Men’s World Championships.

Tom Virgets, AIBA Executive Director, said: “AIBA is committed to safe-guarding the integrity of boxing and its competitions on all levels. Collaborating with an independent audit team is just one of the ways we are working hard to ensure we keep our sport clean and our competitions honest. Like any other International Sport Federation, AIBA will continuously seek to improve its refereeing and judging and will remain ever vigilant to the fact that we serve our athletes in the first place.”

While the new systems have been successfully implemented and approved by the independent organisation PwC and the IOC, AIBA is dedicated to continuously investing in new technologies to further improve its refereeing and judging processes in the lead up to Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and beyond.

Share on Facebook

Tweet