Devi's refusal of bronze medal regretful, says organising committee
Play
The decision of Indian boxer Sarita Devi to refuse her bronze medal at the Asian Games was criticised by the local organising committee on Thursday.
"Yesterday at the boxing medal ceremony, an athlete (Devi) did not accept the result so I find this to be very regretful," Son CheonTaik, sports deputy secretary of the committee, said at a news conference.
"Refusal of the medal goes against sportsmanship," he added later.
On Wednesday, Devi refused to accept her bronze medal in the women's lightweight boxing as she believed she had won Tuesday's semi-final contest against South Korean Park Ji Na, which was awarded against her in a split decision.
"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 said.
"It is unfortunate it happened when a South Korean athlete was involved.
"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."
Devi's medal was left on the podium after the ceremony and Son said a working group of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) would decide if it would be returned. However, he also said the athlete's wishes in regards to the medal could be respected.
On Wednesday the International Boxing Association AIBA said it would open disciplinary proceedings against Devi for her behaviour.
"The whole incident looked like a well planned scenario by her and her team, and it is regretful to watch a boxer refuse the medal regardless of what happened in the competition," said David Francis, the AIBA technical delegate at the Games.
"In this regard, as the technical delegate, I had to request OCA to review this incident, so any boxer or athlete in other sports will not follow in her footsteps by respecting the spirit of fair-play and sportsmanship of the Olympic movement."
