PANAJI
Goa’s AIBA-certified International Technical Official (ITO), Lenny D’Gama will be the only evaluator from Asia to be a part of the boxing championship at the Tokyo Olympics.
D'Gama, the vice-president of Goa Boxing Association, will be the only Asian ITO among the officials, mostly from the United States or Europe. D’Gama’s job at the championship will be to evaluate the referees and judges as per their performance in the ring during the bouts and to check any possible manipulation. The monitored championship will have one boxing ring with only two evaluators and one observer.
India has nine boxers who have qualified for the July 23-August 8 Games to be held in Tokyo. D’Gama, who has been promoted as an observer, will officiate as a neutral ITO. “I have been the observer of World Youth Championship held in Poland recently. The job of an observer is very tough as you also have to evaluate the evaluators,” he said. “I have learnt a lot on evaluation and will be able to do a good job. I used to analyse the bouts till 3 am and start again at 6 am,” he added.
The International Olympics Committee Boxing Task Force is in charge of the championship and they will be overlooking the event along with international auditors.
D’Gama was selected based on his performance at the Olympic qualifiers. He has been an ITO since 2012 after officiating at seven world championships. He is currently working in the capacity of evaluator and observer. “Since 2012, I have been evaluating at various championships including world championships in Asia, Women’s World Championship and two Olympic qualifiers,” he said.
