Furious Italians lodge formal Olympics complaint after 'robbing' in final

After a heated title clash in the men's individual foil in Paris left Filippo Macchi defeated by Cheung Ka-long, Italian Olympic Committee officials have submitted a formal complaint in protest of what they believe to be inadequate refereeing. The final match was shrouded in controversy as Cheung, hailing from Hong Kong, achieved his second consecutive gold medal after a stiff competition.

Despite being on the backfoot at 14-12, Cheung managed to fight back and secure victory over Macchi with a final score of 15-14. However, this victory did not sit well with the Italians. Tensions rose when the score was briefly tied at 14-14 - both sides were certain they had won, but the video review tipped the scales in favour of Cheung , causing an uproar in the Italian team.

Following the contentious match, Macchi's coach, Stefano Cerioni, made no secret of his fury towards the referees . In his words to OA Sport following their crushing defeat in the final, he stated, "It hurts too much. They are robbing us of gold in rapid succession, without respect. And all with slow motion.

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"A sporting greeting. In the two previous thrusts, Macchi had started early, but the judges abstained from a decision... In the last one there was a save and response and they didn't see it. Cerioni is protesting furiously with the referees. They don't let us win, friends, it's useless," reports the Mirror US .

He didn't hold back in expressing his concerns further when speaking to Italian broadcaster Rai following the event in Paris. He stated: "I've never seen anything like this, neither as an athlete or coach. 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."

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He later confirmed that the Italian Olympic Committee has launched "a formal complaint" and labelled the referees as a "disgrace". In a series of controversial remarks, he continued: "The situation is clear. 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."

Reflecting on the defeat, Macchi noted: "Fencing is a sport at the referee's discretion. 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 do not think the referees would act in bad faith. I congratulated [Cheung] afterwards, he is a great competitor."

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