Splashed by the conclusions of the famous McLaren report on facts of alleged corruption during boxing matches at the Rio Olympics, Tony Yoka and his lawyer counter-attack on Monday.
It is undoubtedly the name most cited in the echoes of the McLaren report published in the press these days. Tony Yoka’s. Sacred Olympic heavyweight champion in Rio in 2016, the French boxer would have potentially benefited from arbitration favors according to the interventions of the very influential Karim Bouzidi, former executive director of the International Amateur Boxing Federation (AIBA). ” If people have cheated, they must be punished, and as soon as possible », Exclaims this Monday the lawyer of the principal concerned.
Maître Arnaud Péricard, with AFP, takes care to contextualize the report which today does so much harm to his client. ” This is an independent report made by AIBA. […] At this stage there is no lesson to be learned. It puts the athlete in an awkward position, and the real victim is the athlete. The report exempts all athletes from any involvement, responsibility. »
The federation also grumbles
Present alongside his lawyer on the sidelines of the presentation of the French Olympic team which will meet the challenge of the Beijing Winter Games in 2022, Tony Yoka specifies: ” The suspended and implicated referees were fired after the quarter-finals, this does not even concern the half and the final. “Last week, as soon as the content of the report was released, Rio silver medalist Jo Joyce claimed his due:” I really believe that I was the winner of the fight against Tony Yoka and that I deserve the gold medal. »
A posture that has the gift of annoying Me. Péricard: “ Besides that, you may add a small dose of Anglo-Saxon bad faith in a report, with a Joe Joyce who, as if by chance, is on the verge of a discussion for a professional fight with Tony Yoka … “The French Boxing Federation, this Monday, also blew its anger:” This preliminary report conceals accusations which fall under the allegation and the speculation without ever providing tangible and factual proof of what it puts forward. The process is most shocking in view of the seriousness and the prejudice that these assertions cause to the athletes concerned as well as to the French Boxing Federation. […] No one has the right to dirty French boxers based on analyzes that are as approximate as they are unfounded! »
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