The incident between the coach of the Azerbaijani team and the Macedonian referee at the European School Championships in Zlatibor, Serbia, has been discussed for several days.
Idman.biz reports that Azerbaijani boxer Yusif Agakishiyev showed a clear advantage in the final fight against his Serbian opponent Viktor Maystrovic, and although he was very close to the gold medal, the referee Stefan Subalevski "stole" the victory from our athlete in the ring.
Realizing that our boxer's superiority would turn into a knockout, the referee, as the athletes said, began to "suffocate" Yusif with penalties, depriving him of the victory he deserved.
In response, Yusif's coach, Khamza Avezov, the technical director invited by our federation from Uzbekistan, physically interfered with the referee - angrily attacked him and almost choked him. This incident caused a mass fight in the ring, and it was very difficult to calm the situation.
As a result, the Azerbaijani boxer was also deprived of the silver medal. The fate of Khamza Avezov will be determined by the European and Azerbaijani Boxing Federations in the coming days.
The Uzbek expert answered questions from Caliber.az:
- Khamza, please tell us, why did you do that? Couldn't you just file a protest after the fight?
- Firstly, official protest procedure is generally not applied in competitions such as the European School Championships. This leads to such arbitrariness of the referee. This is not the first time I see this.
Secondly, the most painful thing is that such injustices are most often committed against Azerbaijani boxers. That is, to our children who are favorites in almost every age category. However, this destroys the psychology of adolescents. That's why I couldn't control myself...
- Don't you regret what happened? What were you thinking at that moment? After all, you may be given a lifetime disqualification or at least a few years of punishment...
- No, no punishment came to my mind at that moment! I was only thinking about the situation of our boxer. That referee stole the athlete's right in front of everyone, caused a very heavy psychological blow!
- However, although many victories have been taken from our boxers in the last 30 years, no coach, including a legionnaire, has taken such a step...
- You know, I can't say what has happened so far. But I believe that everyone will see what will happen next. I hope that the judges will now measure a hundred times and cut once, that is, they will not allow such injustice against Azerbaijani boxers. I would like them to understand - you can't treat our children like that! Especially since our boxers are very strong and have the potential to win in any level of competition. I am sure that after this incident, the judges will have to reckon with Azerbaijan!
- So what awaits you now?
- I don't know. We'll live and see. But I don't regret what happened and I'm sure I won't be out of work.
Idman.biz