Reuters/Incheon, South Korea
The United Arab Emirates' three-man judo team has been thrown out of the Asian Games for failing to meet the required residency rules, an official said on Sunday.
Victor Scvortov, Mihail Marchitan and Ivan Remarenco have all switched allegiance from Moldova to the UAE over the past couple of years.
"Scvortov has been disqualified last night as he did not follow the three-year residency rule for naturalized citizens by OCA," said Che Kuong Hon, the Games technigal delegate for Judo.
Scvortov is ranked number one in the world in the -73kg category by the International Judo Federation and was one of the favourites for gold in Incheon.
He won gold medals in Baku World Cup in 2011, the 2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and 2014 Budapest Grand Prix.
