Olympic boxing: Ugandan referee Aciga eyes final call

All the three Ugandan boxers were eliminated instantly at the Tokyo Olympics, but referee and judge Antonio Stephen Aciga is still carrying the flag.

Aciga, Uganda’s only internationally certified Star Three ring official, has already officiated nearly 10 bouts at the Tokyo Games. In all the bouts he has been a judge and his score has been in favour of the eventual winner.
The exception was Bout 145 in which the Philippines’ Eumir Marcial won in Round One after injuring Algeria’s middleweight Younes Nemouchi, who had defeated Uganda’s David Ssemujju.

Since his debut at the All-Africa Games in Johannesburg in 1999, Aciga, 63, boasts an experience like no other Ugandan official. But this is his first time at an Olympic tournament.
Unlike before, this time Olympic boxing has been organised by the Olympic Boxing Task Force after the International Olympic Committee suspended Aiba – the International Boxing Association – due to “concerns over finance, governance, ethics and refereeing and judging.”
Aciga has most recently doubled as referee and judge but in Tokyo, it’s unclear whether if he will get onto the canvas.

“In all tournaments since 1999, I have never missed handling the finals,” he boasted in a 2019.
It remains to be seen whether he will get a chance to officiate at any of the 13 gold medal events, which begin Tuesday.

Aciga’s boots at Games
Bout 145: Men’s Middle
E. Marcial (PHI) -RSC- Y. Nemouchi (ALG)
Bout 147: Men’s Super Heavy
Satish Kumar (IND) -4:1- R. Brown (JAM)
Aciga’s scorecard 30:26
Bout 151: Women’s Flyweight 
J. Jitpong (THA) -5:0- Irish Magno (PHI)
Aciga’s scorecard 27:30
Bout 153: Women’s Flyweight
Hsiao-Wen (TAI) -5:0- G. Sorrentino (ITA)
Aciga’s scorecard 27:30
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