Flashback 2016: Okwiri a sorry victim of Rio 2016 refereeing scandal

When Rayton Okwiri cried foul after becoming the last of the three Kenyan boxers to exit the Rio 2016 Olympics, no one thought at the time he was opening a lid to one of the worst sporting scandals of 2016.

Compatriots Benson Gicharu and Peter Mungai found their Mongolian and Cuban competition in the round of 32 a bridge to far in their pursuit of medals but not Okwiri who matched and the fans, out-boxed Moroccan opponent Mohammed Rabii in the men welterweight 69kg category on August 11.

“I was well prepared for the medal although my dream has been shattered today. I controlled the game leading from round one only to get surprised on how the points were awarded.

“I am now confused, where the problem is as the Moroccan didn’t defeat me in any round” the Kenya Prisons Officer said after the bout,” the bitter Okwiri lamented at the time.

Three judges awarded all the rounds in the close fight to the 23 year-old Moroccan 29-28, 30-27 and 29-28 in the bout where the Kenyan took most punishment in the second.

With his controversial exit, Kenya’s dream of producing another Olympics champion in boxing since 1988 when Robert Wangila Napunyi fought his way to glory was deferred until Tokyo 2020-an astonishing 32-year wait.

But unbeknown at the time, a scandal far deeper than the circus perpetrated by officials on Team Kenya at the Rio Summer Games was brewing.

An article penned in the UK Guardian by Simon Bunton titled The Anti-Sports Personality of the Year awards 2016 perhaps best explained the travesty visited upon the Kenya Prisons fighter Okwiri and many other boxers who had their Olympics hopes ended by dodgy officiating by referees sanctioned by the Amateur International Boxing Association (AIBA).

“Even before the Olympics began there was talk in the boxing community that corruption of officials was likely, if not inevitable. Then the odd results started: Russia’s Evgeny Tishchenko was booed by an incredulous crowd when he was awarded gold, America’s Gary Antuanne Russell was “robbed” against Uzbekistan’s Fazliddin Gaibnazarov, and Michael Conlan pledged never to box under the AIBA again following his defeat on a unanimous points decision against Vladimir Nikitin, another Russian,” Bunton who named AIBA as one of the Anti-Sports Personalities of 2016 wrote.

He may not have mentioned Okwiri but judging by the loud catcalls and boos from the auditorium when the Moroccan was announced the winner, the Kenyan was among the boxers short-changed in Rio.

After international outcry, AIBA ordered a belated investigation into the refereeing at Rio 2016 and the verdict was a harsh indictment on the global governing body when ALL 36 referees involved in the Olympics were suspended pending further inquiry.

“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 procedures were necessary.

“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 under way, will allow Aiba to fully assess what action needs to be taken,” a statement from AIBA said at the time.

It also abolished the controversial new judging system where only scores from three of the five judges adopted at the Rio Olympics, further denting the reputation of the sport.

“The current five-star R&J programme will be disbanded and there will be greater empowerment and efficiency brought to the role of the R&J evaluators during competitions,” AIBA continued.

Amid a number of recommended changes, Aiba said it would continue with the “10 point must” scoring system introduced before Rio but in future would take all five judges’ cards into account rather than discounting two.

While the findings of the AIBA inquiry are yet to be made public as 2016 comes to a close, boxers like Okwiri who felt cheated in Rio will continue wondering what could have been had their aspirations not been wrecked by the biggest judging scandal in the history of the Olympics.

Already, the Kenyan trio who boxed in Rio have turned their sights of never boxing under AIBA again and the task for national federation, Boxing Association of Kenya is to seek young talent that will take their gloves for Tokyo 2020.

-Material from the Guardian used in this report

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Boxing olympics referee Rayton Okwiri AIBA Rio 2016 scandal Benson Gicharu Njagiru guardian Peter Mungai

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