AIBA sidelines referees and judges after Olympic boxing farce

The boxing tournament at the Summer Games in August was embroiled in controversy over the new '10 point must' scoring system, with allegations by some beaten boxers that they were "robbed" of victory.

Ireland's Michael Conlan was among those left fuming, declaring that the judges were "f****** cheats" after he was denied what appeared to be a clear decision.

World bantamweight champion Conlan was one of the most vociferous critics of the judging in Rio as he was controversially beaten on points by Russia's Vladimir Nikitin in a quarter-final bout.

It was a travesty which prompted a huge outcry, and which prompted one young fan to send Conlan a medal:

The response from the International Boxing Association comes too late for Conlan - who had no right of appeal - but fans will hope that future Olympic boxing competitions are organised better.

"While the majority of the boxing competition in Rio 2016 was received very positively... a small number of decisions under debate indicated that further reforms in the AIBA R&J (referee and judging) procedures were necessary," the International Boxing Association said in a statement.

"Initial decisions were made on-site during Rio 2016 to ensure the smooth running of the rest of the competition. The results of a specific R&J investigation, currently underway, will allow AIBA to fully assess what action needs to be taken.

"In the meantime, it has been decided that all 36 R&Js that were used at the Olympic Games will not officiate at any AIBA event until the investigation reaches its conclusion, along with further immediate measures adopted by the commissions."

AIBA dropped a number of unidentified judges and referees during the competition, after finding that "less than a handful" of the decisions from 239 bouts reviewed were not at the level expected.

It also reassigned its French executive director Karim Bouzidi to a new role.

AIBA said its Referees and Judges and Technical and Rules commissions had met in Lausanne, Switzerland, to discuss reforms and a 'road map' for the next Olympic cycle leading to the 2020 Tokyo Games.

"Boxing was in the spotlight (in Rio) for positive reasons, but occasionally also for the wrong ones," AIBA president Wu Ching-kuo said.

AIBA said that although the scoring system occasionally led to 'misunderstandings', it remained the best method.

However, the commission had recommended in future opening up all five of the ringside judges' scorecards to determine the winner of the bout.

In Rio, the scores of only three judges counted after being chosen at random by a computer.

The boxing body also recommended that, for greater transparency, the assignation of judges and referees for each bout be automated rather than chosen by a three-person draw commission.

"Moving forward it is essential that the reputation of the R and Js is restored," AIBA added.

"The judging system can never become a scapegoat for boxers and coaches who perform disappointingly in the ring and display inappropriate behaviour or comments to media.