"The judges should have given to Beleniuk": the coach of the Ukrainian national team spoke about claims against the referees at the 2024 Olympics and how Iran influences refereeing

The coach of the Ukrainian Greco-Roman wrestling team, Volodymyr Shatskykh, has a question for the referee who officiated at the Olympic semifinals involving the titled Ukrainian wrestler Zhan Beleniuk in the 87 kg weight category. After the Iranian Alireza Mohmadipiani equalized the score in the fight and gained the advantage, he acted extremely passively for almost a minute and a half, almost running away from the grip of our MP, but he was not punished for this.

As a result, the 33-year-old from Kyiv, who is the Olympic champion of Tokyo 2020, lost the semifinal fight and will fight for the bronze medal today.

"Zhan was stable, but I understand that the referee was a little bit off after the fight with Parviz... There are nuances in the refereeing. Because Jean was very dominant. He was running out of delight and this is a clear passive. With the score 3:3, and Zhan being the first to choose the floor, the judges should have given him a chance," Shatskykh believes.

"But the judges did not give the Ukrainian any chance. And I understand that they still want to expand the geography of medals... They already realized that we have a finalist. Moreover, the fight was judged by a representative of Azerbaijan, the country whose wrestler Parviz Nasibov defeated in the semifinals. Something personal might have happened," the coach suggested.

According to Shatskykh, Beleniuk had a very high level of performance in the semifinal fight and all the others. But Iran has a very strong influence on the refereeing: "And they have all the conditions and opportunities for that."

"We had Roman Pavlov, who worked as a referee. He asked not to be judged in our favor, but simply to be treated neutrally and loyally. But he was also taken away from us and not allowed to participate in the Olympic Games," Shatskykh said.

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