AIBA sidelines referees and judges used at Rio, pending investigation

Boxing body AIBA has sidelined all 36 referees and judges used at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics until an investigation has been concluded, it said on Thursday.

The boxing tournament at the Summer Games in August was embroiled in controversy over the new '10 point must' scoring system, with allegations by some beaten boxers that they were "robbed" of victory.

"While the majority of the boxing competition in Rio 2016 was received very positively... a small number of decisions under debate indicated that further reforms in the AIBA R&J (referee and judging) procedures were necessary," the International Boxing Association said in a statement.

"Initial decisions were made on-site during Rio 2016 to ensure the smooth running of the rest of the competition. The results of a specific R&J investigation, currently underway, will allow AIBA to fully assess what action needs to be taken.

"In the meantime, it has been decided that all 36 R&Js that were used at the Olympic Games will not officiate at any AIBA event until the investigation reaches its conclusion, along with further immediate measures adopted by the commissions."

AIBA dropped a number of unidentified judges and referees during the competition, after finding that "less than a handful" of the decisions from 239 bouts reviewed were not at the level expected.

It also reassigned its French executive director Karim Bouzidi to a new role.