Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 10 June (BelTA) - Chairman of the Belarusian Federation of Boxing Dmitry Tikhomolov attended a press conference timed to the conclusion of the 40th EUBC European Boxing Championships 2013 at the Sports Palace on 8 June. The official told the media about the amount of work carried out prior to and during the EUBC European Boxing Championships 2013 and also praised the level of performance shown during the tournament, BelTA has learnt.

“The European Boxing Championships 2013 championships have been held on a high level. All days of the competition showed that the preparation process was smart. We have delivered on our obligations in accordance with the contact signed with the European Boxing Confederation. I raise this issue because the most important part of organization was the service one. It did not give rise to any criticism. Concerning the competitions, the tournament was very exciting, which almost all experts agree with. The boxing matches were entertaining, too. The European boxing is about to begin a new Olympic quadrennial and it is in good condition. A new refereeing system has been adopted at the tournament, too. We have discovered some problems here and currently these matters are being addressed. In the nearest future we will introduce some new changes into the rules with the aim of improving the refereeing system at the forthcoming championships. Thanks to this tournament my colleagues and I have gained an invaluable experience of the organization of international tournaments in Belarus,” Dmitry Tikhomolov said.

For his part, President of the European Boxing Confederation (EUBC) Franco Falcinelli said that the European Boxing Championships in Minsk have become one of the best tournaments under the aegis of the EUBC when it comes to organization. “As many as 216 fighters from 37 countries, 20 international referees from Europe, Asia, America and Africa partook in the competitions and 20 sportsmen reached the final. Russia had the biggest representation at the tournament. Other countries with quite big representation were Ukraine, Ireland, Azerbaijan and Belarus. The most important feature of this championship is that we have managed to discover lots of talents here and prove that the European boxing is the leading one in the world,” Franco Falcinelli underlined.

There were not many complaints and protests concerning the new refereeing system that had been introduced prior to the tournament. Only Croatia protested after Hrvoje Sep (light heavy 81kg) had ended his boxing match against Belarus’ Sergei Novikov in the quarterfinal. The protest was directed against the referee and was reviewed. According to the Croatian side, the referee warned the Belarusian fighter several times but did not punish him for infraction. The protest, however, was declined as the replay of the fight showed that both sportsmen broke the rules. No protests have been directed against the new scoring system.