Three fighters from Romania were thrown out of the World Boxing Championships after they were caught trying to steal from a department store in Chicago, organizers said on Sunday.
Richard Baker, head of public relations for the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA), said in a statement that the boxers Marius Bogdan Dinu, 21, Ronald Gavril, 21, and Gabriel Julian Stan, 20, were caught by surveillance cameras in a department store as they attempted to make off with merchandise.
"The AIBA considers this type of conduct incompatible with its code of ethics," the AIBA release said, adding that the trio had been ordered home, along with the chief trainer of the Romanian squad.
Their results in the competition have been nullified, and they will be banned from amateur boxing for life.
"This misbehavior tarnishes the image and reputation of AIBA and the sport of boxing, all other federations and the other athletes competing in the AIBA World Boxing Championships Chicago 2000," said AIBA president Wu Ching-kuo of Taiwan. "The measures AIBA has taken are a strong illustration of the new AIBA and its zero tolerance for misbehavior inside or outside of the ring and a reminder to all teams that all team managers are responsible for the actions and movements of their athtletes at all moments during the tournament."
In the ring, Hrachik Javakhyan of Armenia outmaneuvered lightweight Sadam Ali to eliminated the American from the championships on Sunday.
Javakhyan outscored Ali early, then protected his lead by moving around the ring and effectively countering Ali's attacks.
Ali successfully adjusted his style to keep the match close, but Javakhyan managed the fight well and won by a score of 20-16.
Earlier, China's top-ranked light flyweight Zou Shiming continued his dominance in the ring with a 30-13 victory over Kazakhstan's Birzham Zhakypov. Russian Alexey Tishchenko, a gold medalist in the Athens Olympics and one of the best pound-for-pound amateur boxers in the world, defeated Kim Joung-won of South Korea 27-20.
"It was a little bit more difficult than I expected," Tishchenko said through a translator following the match.
High school student Luis Yanez and welterweight Demetrius Andrade, both of the US, won their bouts to advance. Yanez won by walkover, while Andrade beat Latvia's Dmitrijs Sostaks 19-3.
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