SYDNEY Boxing judges during the Sydney Olympics will be watched by "spy cameras" to make sure they do not cheat.
The International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) has decided to suspend cameras above the four sides of the ring to keep an eye on the five judges.
Any hint of controversy and the bout footage will be reviewed.
AIBA President Anwar Chowdhry said that images of the fighters would also be able to be linked to computerized scoring readouts.
"If a judge has pressed a (scoring) button, you can see what the position of the two boxers was," Chowdhry said.
"How did he press the button? They (the boxers) were maybe not within scoring distance. So we will know exactly whether the judge has done it correctly or not ... we will have the proof." Chowdhry added: "I think three or four mistakes we can allow but not beyond that.
"If we are convinced this was intentional, he will be told to go home." The existing computerized scoring system was brought in after the fiasco of Seoul in 1988 when American Roy Jones was widely held to have been robbed of gold by judges voting for his outclassed South Korean opponent.
No point is awarded for a hit unless three of the five judges press a scoring button for one particular boxer within a second of each other.
The system, however, has proved a rich source of controversy in the past.
(Reuter)