|
Hosts South Korea performed strongly at the just-concluded Asian Games in Incheon, the port city west of Seoul, but though they got 79 gold medals to their name, some opponents have complained of an unfair home advantage. |
The South Korean men claimed a first gold medal in football since 1986 against North Korea and en route to the final benefited from penalties in games against Japan and Thailand.
“Our side would have won the game if there had been no penalty kicks awarded,” Japan coach Makoto Teguramori said after the 1-0 quarter-final loss.
Though not explicit in blaming the referee for the defeat, the implication was clear. But it ignores the fact the penalty award was correct, given after a Japanese defender needlessly clattered through the back of an opponent.
Thailand coach Kiatisuk Senamuang had more of a case in complaining about the penalty awarded against his side, for a foul marginally outside the box, in the semi-final which South Korea converted to make it 2-0.
But again, the coach elected to blame the referee rather than his defenders for losing the ball 20 metres from their own goal to begin with. If the referee did make a slight error in his job, it was not so big as that of the Thai of the players who failed in one of the fundamental principles of football.
The issue has also been highlighted in boxing by several countries, most notably by Indian Sarita Devi, who declined to accept her bronze medal in the women’s flyweight category.
Son Cheon Taik, an executive on the local organizing committee, pointed out suggestions of bias were not uncommon in the aftermath of a defeat. “At every match like this one, you often see claims against judging decisions,” he said. “We wanted to make sure at these Games we not only claim to be fair but do our best to maintain integrity.”
Son explained that all judges were given additional training before the competition started but conceded that judging a boxing match, which involves subjective decisions, was “not easy”.
“The incident is unfortunate... we wanted to make sure there is no such thing as home advantage, an event for all Asians to become one,” Son added. “I checked and there was no South Korean judge but of course there can still be claims of home advantage. But we tried to make sure there was no such thing.”
Mongolia’s Tugstsogt Nyambayar briefly attempted a sit down protest in the ring after his boxing loss to South Korean Ham Sang Myeong. “I’m disappointed with the judges’ decision,” he said. “I did better in two rounds. I feel sad because I was so close to the medal.”
And another who felt hard done by was Iranian wrestler Saeid Abdvali who seemed to have beaten Jung Ji Hyun of South Korea before a controversial video review changed the course of the match.
Jung won the contest, then went on to win gold while Abdvali was left with bronze.
“I’m really mad at the referee for making a wrong judgment. I should have won the gold, but because of the referee, I lost to the South Korean player,” he said. “No offence to the South Korean player though.”