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Boxing tournament in chaos as Filipinos protest the judging

The men's boxing tournament at the Southeast Asian Games was thrown into disarray yesterday when Philippine fighters retired from their bouts, alleging biased judging.

Filipinos were scheduled to box in seven of the 10 gold medal bouts against host nation Thailand, but four opted not to complete their fights, gifting the titles to their Thai opponents.

"We are not blaming Thailand. We are blaming the referees and the judges and the jury because we're not getting the real deal here," the Philippines' chef de mission Monico Puentevella said. "We came here to compete in a spirit of friendship, but yesterday one of our [female] boxers lost 19-0 in a three-round fight. We can't even get a single point. This is too much. It has been going on for a decade everywhere."

Amid huge confusion in a packed arena, athletes from boxing stronghold the Philippines continued to emerge to receive their medals as officials were locked in talks.

"We are telling the judges and jury to shape up otherwise they will destroy the spirit of the games," Puentevella said. "Our fighters did not come here to be beaten up, they came to fight and compete on a fair playing field."

Controversy also raged on the badminton courts where Indonesia's Olympic badminton champion Taufik Hidayat was ordered to the stands on Wednesday after a heated exchange with an umpire.

Hidayat accused the officials of trying to aid Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana.

There have also been allegations of biased judging in favour of athletes from Thailand in the weightlifting.
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