'Is one of the judges Italian', furious coach asks

Morocco's Mohammed Arjaoui (L) fights Italy's Roberto Cammarelle during their quarterfinal Men's Super Heavy (+91kg) boxing match at the London Olympic Games August 6, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]

LONDON - After Olympic champion Roberto Cammarelle beat Mohammed Arjaoui by the tightest of margins on Monday, the Moroccan's coach wanted to know one thing: was one of the judges Italian?

Defeated fighters and coaches have groaned all week about the scoring in tight contests and the International Boxing Association (AIBA) has already sent two officials home and suspended another for wrongdoing.

Cammarelle, fighting well below par, gave Arjaoui a chance of winning his country's first medal of the Games and while he probably did just edge it as the judges awarded him a 12-11 win, Abdelhak Achik disagreed.

"The judges always get it wrong and we never win. As soon as the fight starts, the judges are against us and they are always against the Arabs," the coach, who flung his fighter's towel to the ground in disgust when the result was announced, told reporters through a translator.

"Only two Africans have qualified for the quarterfinals. It's a bad advertisement. Is one of the judges Italian?"

Asked about the Moroccan's charges of a bias against Arab fighters, a spokesman for AIBA told Reuters that such comment did not merit a response.

AIBA also rejected a protest from the Moroccans before even sending it for review.