Grisha Tamrazyan: Wrestling refereeing at Paris mat carried out with double standards and outrageous bias

Wrestling refereeing at the Paris mat is carried out with double standards and outrageous bias. We witnessed a similar situation in the final match involving Arthur Aleksanyan and also in the bronze medal match in freestyle wrestling under the same conditions, where the same German chief referee this time preferred to award a point to the wrestler who pushed his opponent out with both feet. This was stated by Grisha Tamrazyan, former Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, and a friend of Arthur Aleksanyan, who is currently in the Olympic capital, in a conversation with a NEWS.am Sport correspondent from Paris.

"Here we are once again convinced that we are on the right track, and we must do everything to have Arthur Aleksanyan's gold medal returned to him, to Armenia. On August 9, in the freestyle wrestling 74 kg bronze medal match between Chermen Valiev (Albania) and Viktor Rassadin (Tajikistan), we witnessed exactly the same situation: In the same situation, the Tajik wrestler (in blue gear) made a move from above, ended up outside the mat with both feet, just like Arthur Aleksanyan had done against Saravi. After the challenge, the same chief referee, the German Antonio Silvestri, who had reviewed the incident involving Arthur Aleksanyan, this time chose to award the point for leaving the mat. That is, one point was given to the Albanian wrestler (in red gear). This incident and the one involving Arthur Aleksanyan prove that wrestling refereeing is carried out with double standards, under outrageous bias. Arthur Aleksanyan is an Olympic champion, which is a proven fact. After all this, there is only one thing left: to pursue the process to the end and return the gold medal to Armenia. Justice must prevail," says Grisha Tamrazyan.