AIBA Annulled Olympic Victory of Azerbaijani Boxers

The Sports Minister Azad Rahimov has received another blow from London.

The result of the match last night in the eighth final of the Olympic boxing tournament between  Azerbaijani national team member Mohammed Abdulhamidov and Japanese Satoshi Shimizu, in the under 56 kg category, was annulled.

Although the battle ended in victory for the Azerbaijani sportsman, the Japanese protested the judge's decision, and the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) upheld the protest.

The first and second rounds of the match took place with Abdulhamidov winning with a score of 12:5. However, in the third round, he could hardly stand, fell repeatedly and finished the fight with great difficulty.

Nevertheless, even to the surprise of the Azerbaijani commentators, the judge declared Abdulhamidov the winner, which caused a rumble of discontent from the fans and boo-ing of the referee.

 "After reviewing Fight № 106 at the Olympic Tournament, we came to the conclusion that the referee should have at least three times noted knockdowns for Abdulhamidov.

The referee stopped the fight and the victory was awarded to the Japanese boxer Shimizu. 

Four Azerbaijani boxers continue to fight in the boxing tournament:  Soltan Migitinov, Magomedrasul Majidov and Teymur Mammadov, and female boxer Elena Vystropova.

Last year BBC reported on the opaque "investments" in AIBA to ensure Azerbaijani boxers two gold medals at the Olympics in London.  The Head of the Azerbaijan Boxing Federation, Head of the Emergency Ministry, Kamaladdin Heydarov also figured in the case. However, no evidence linking Heydarov to the transaction was filed, the leadership of AIBA denied the information, and no one filed a lawsuit against BBC. -06D -