Italy’s national Olympic Committee (Coni) has lodged a formal complaint following Cheung Ka-long’s gold medal match victory over Filippo Macchi, as the Italian’s coach labelled him the “moral winner” in a controversial bout.
Hong Kong foilist Cheung beat Macchi 15-14 but, with the scores level at 14-14, both men thought they had secured the victory only for a video review to overrule the referee.
Eventually Cheung secured the win, having trailed 14-12 at one point, but the Italian’s camp were bitterly unhappy at the decision.
“I’ve never seen anything like this, neither as an athlete or coach,” Macchi’s trainer Stefano Cerioni told Italian broadcaster Rai afterwards. “I would hope it is just incompetence, I would not want to suggest anything else.
“The judges abstained, this is serious for the lad. Macchi is the moral winner. He won it three times, but found himself second.
“My heart breaks for him because we worked so hard. He deserved this win because he landed his thrusts.
“Silver is a great medal, but gold is something else. Now we need to wait four years to try again.”
Meanwhile, Coni president Giovanni Malago initially labelled the decision a “disgrace” before later adding that while “referees should be respected, we have launched a formal complaint for the credibility of the sport”.
Malago also expressed his displeasure at the selection of referees from regions that are nearer to Hong Kong.
“The situation is clear,” he said. “If you have referees which you draw, the first is from [South] Korea, the second from [Chinese] Taipei, you need to change them.
“You cannot do this, it is opportunism. Find me another sport in the world where you can have referees who come from regions close to one of the countries in action.
“I spoke with the secretary of the International Fencing Federation and said that this rule needs to change. We are very angry and sorry.”
Macchi, however, took a different approach and praised Cheung following the Hongkonger’s victory.
“Fencing is a sport at the referee’s discretion,” he said. “I was ahead 14-12 and was not able to close it out.
“I will watch the thrusts again. At the time, I felt I was right. I never felt I was robbed. Perhaps they were wrong, but I do not think the referees would act in bad faith.
“I congratulated [Cheung] afterwards, he is a great competitor.”
Despite making history in Paris, Cheung accepted afterwards that things could have gone another way.
“I was so sure about the third hit, though it was the same for me on the first two,” the 27-year-old said. “In a different venue, or with a different referee, things might not be the same, but every fencer thinks the point belonged to them.”
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