On the day of the first Italian gold in Paris 2024, obtained surprisingly by a splendid Nicolò Martinenghi in the 100m breaststroke , controversy broke out over the refereeing which allegedly put three Italian medalists at a disadvantage.
Arianna Errigo in foil, Odette Giuffrida in judo, Aziz Abbes Mouhiidine in boxing left the Olympics long before their hopes could be played out to the end . Mother Errigo's Olympic dream stopped in the quarterfinals, confirming the curse of the standard-bearer, and in the end she barely held back tears for the decision at VAR which deprived her, at 14-14 against the American Scruggs, of the point winner by assigning it to the rival. «Losing due to refereeing is sad, but it's part of my sport» , are the words of Errigo, who is now thinking of making up for it with the team event.
Two other burned cards, those of Giuffrida and Mouhiidine in judo and boxing, are both linked to highly contested referees' assessments. In the case of Odette, the same judge twice, the Romanian Babiuc. First in the semi-final, and then in the final for bronze, three yellow cards and then the disqualification at the golden score - the extra time that assigns victory to the first point when the fight ended in a draw - assigned the defeat to the Italian . The first time for having escaped the capture, the second time neither Odette nor the president of the CONI, Malagò, present with the Federjudo leaders, wanted to try to understand why. The judge was loudly booed by the approximately 7 thousand spectators present. "I don't know what Mrs. Babiuc has against me: one day I'll have a coffee with her to understand it", said the disconsolate Giuffrida , who even at the end of the race went to hug the Brazilian Pimenta who had taken the bronze from her and was crying .
However, the Italian Aziz Abbes Mouhiidine, the Italian heavyweight with ambitions of a medal after the world silver medal , did not have the strength to speak. The scoreboard didn't help him, which immediately put him against the Uzbek Lazizbek Mullojonov, world bronze medalist, nor the difficult start with a bleeding wound on the right eyebrow arch, which forced the referee to call the doctor. First shot in favor of the Uzbek, then Mouhiidine began to lead the match and took the other two shots, dominating the second in particular. But not for the judges: eliminated in the first round. "Shame on you. Once again Italy has been robbed", thundered the president of the boxing federation Flavio D'Ambrosi, a former referee among other things . «We thought that the IOC protected the boxers and avoided the atrocities of the past - he added, referring to the exclusion due to corruption of the world federation, with the International Olympic Committee which took over the organization of the tournament -. Nothing, we're as usual. The match dominated by Abbes and lost with an unfortunate verdict shows that nothing has changed. This leads me to make serious reflections on my further stay in this world that I have loved and love. I don't know if I will find the strength to run again." For the Italian director Emanuele Renzini it was a «very complicated day. No comment on Mouhiidine's match. I think everyone saw how it went." It must be said that the Uzbek himself, when he was awarded the victory, was very surprised .
(Unioneonline)
