In case you missed it, the Asian Games are currently taking place in Incheon, South Korea, a country we should all know by now as one of the worst on Earth to host an international sports competition. It’s no secret that host countries get a medal boost in the Olympics, but rarely do we see corruption on the level the South Koreans mete out every time they get to play host. Of course, the most famous incident of South Korean bias occurred at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, when Roy Jones Jr. was completely and utterly robbed of a gold medal in boxing, losing to — wait for it — a South Korean, Park Si Hun, who Jones thoroughly dominated for the entire match.
It’s clear that not much as changed in the 26 years in between (that includes suspicious officiating that allowed South Korea to make the 2002 World Cup final in — you guessed it — South Korea!). Already, the 2014 Games have been plagued by questionable rulings and protests which have left many participants and their national federations completely dumbfounded. First, there was a women’s boxing semifinal between Sarita Devi (India) and Jina Park (South Korea) that was ruled in Park’s favor. As you can see in the video, Devi is completely flabbergasted when the referee raises Park’s arm after the judges returned a 3-0 decision in favor of the home fighter (all three judges submitted identical 39-37 score cards, too). Rather than make her point right then and there, Devi — who ultimately finished third — chose to make an even bolder statement at the medal podium by accepting the bronze medal and immediately walking over to Park and placing it on her neck (for those of you keeping track at home, that’s an all-time great “eff u” move right there).
India also cried foul after the 49 kg men’s boxing quarterfinal match between Devendro Singh and Shin Jong-hun: “I wish these judges could be sacked,” India’s Cuban trainer Bi Fernandez said bluntly. “I suppose the only ones who thought the Korean had won were the judges.”
Now, if you think this is just a couple instances of whining on the part of the Indian boxing federation, get a load of what happened in the 71 kg Greco-Roman wrestling semifinal between South Korea’s Jung Ji-hyun and Iran’s Saeid Abdevali. Abdevali builds an 8-4 lead in points, and caps off the match with a pin. The referee is ready to declare him the winner (and rightfully so), but all of a sudden, all hell breaks loose. The South Korean officials protest, leading the judges to wipe Abdevali’s last four points off the board, and the match is, unbelievably, allowed to continue. While not on the same level in terms of historical significance, this is some 1972 gold medal basketball game shit (or, I guess for this story’s purposes, some Roy Jones Jr. shit).
A dumbfounded Abdevali couldn’t put himself together enough to win the match all over again, and eventually succumbed to Ji-hyun, who went on to win gold.
