The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) annonuced today that it had expelled four judges after they gave excessively high marks to their own country's competitors during the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships in New Orleans.
FIG said in a statement that the four - Larissa Lukiachenko of Belarus, Marcie Louyrenco of Brazil, Efi Pantazidou of Greece and Shin-Ja Choi of South Korea - were removed from the FIG's pool of judges because of "serious judging mistakes". Two other judges, Zaizhen Dao of China and Damida Verlcheva of Bulgaria were given "yellow card" warnings.
FIG said the judges had the right to appeal to the appeals body of the World Championships, which ended yesterday.
"The technical committee has analysed the judges marks and came to the conclusion that the above mentioned judges have given too high scores for their own country," FIG said.
"The exemplary sanctions underline the willingness of the FIG in its fight against biased judging and corruption among the judges, and to preserve the spirit of fair play and ethics," it added.
FIG's clampdown comes months after the International Skating Union (ISU) slapped a three-year ban on a French judge for misconduct during the Winter Olympic figure skating competition, amid a controversy about judging standards.
FIG recently introduced a set pool of 56 judges for international events, with a "yellow card" and "red card" warning system.
The red card means that a judge is immediately sidelined, while a second "yellow card" warning also leads to expulsion.
FIG said in a statement that the four - Larissa Lukiachenko of Belarus, Marcie Louyrenco of Brazil, Efi Pantazidou of Greece and Shin-Ja Choi of South Korea - were removed from the FIG's pool of judges because of "serious judging mistakes".
Two other judges, Zaizhen Dao of China and Damida Verlcheva of Bulgaria were given "yellow card" warnings.
FIG said the judges had the right to appeal to the appeals body of the World Championships, which ended on Sunday.
"The technical committee has analysed the judges marks and came to the conclusion that the above mentioned judges have given too high scores for their own country," FIG said.
"The exemplary sanctions underline the willingness of the FIG in its fight against biased judging and corruption among the judges, and to preserve the spirit of fair play and ethics," it added.
FIG's clampdown comes months after the International Skating Union (ISU) slapped a three-year ban on a French judge for misconduct during the Winter Olympic figure skating competition, amid a controversy about judging standards.
FIG recently introduced a set pool of 56 judges for international events, with a "yellow card" and "red card" warning system.
The red card means that a judge is immediately sidelined, while a second "yellow card" warning also leads to expulsion. - AFP