N.Z. referee ‘unfair’

Press, 24 September 1988, Page 96

N.Z. referee ‘unfair’

By

TOM BRIDGMAN

of NZPA in Seoul The Korean bantamweight, Byun Jongil, fought two men — his Bulgarian opponent and the referee — and lost the bout, the “Korea Times” said yesterday. In an unsigned article the English language newspaper hit out at what it called “unfair judging” by the New Zealand referee, Keith Walker, who was involved in a melee after a points decision against Byun. However, the paper conceded the Korean boxer’s manner after the decision “was partly to blame.” “The referee from New Zealand clearly interfered with Byun’s fighting by disturbing his rhythm, repeating biased judging to the uproar from the home crowd,” it said. It said Walker gave eight warnings to Byun in the first round, making the boxer frustrated and without punishing the Bulgarian “who was sneaking away with clinching.” “Korean officials and home fans had the right to be angry with the judge’s unilateral way of managing the fight against Byun. "However, the Korean officials who

charged into 7 the ring after the referee have no excuse to justify their reckless action,” it said. The “Korea Times” said Walker “should explain his biased judging.”

“Behind the incident is the fact that the chief of the Seoul Olympic boxing referees is a Bulgarian,” the paper said. The major Seoul daily “Dong-A,” ran banner headlines of “Violence” and “Shame” over its story of the brawl at the boxing. But the Korean language paper in an editorial took a two-pronged attack, reminding its readers that the Olympics were an international showcase and Koreans should behave properly. Apparently referring to the mob scenes, it said nobody was perfect but Koreans had to remember that in their culture it was more important to behave properly than to win. Athletes had to be sporting and accept judgement, right or wrong, it said. As for judging itself, the paper questioned the partiality of the referee and said at future international events the quality of the judges had to be carefully looked at. Olympics, pages 28-31