Swedish Greco-Roman wrestler Ara Abrahamian who was stripped of Olympic bronze medal for dropping it in disgust on the mat during the victory ceremony had the right to be angry, according to Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Abrahamian complained to CAS that his penalty in the semifinal of men's Greco-Roman 84kg bout on Aug. 14 against Andrea Minguzzi of Italy, who finally won the gold, wasn't assessed until after the bout was over.
The International Federation of Wrestling (FILA), the governing body of world wrestling, then denied Abrahamian's coach's request for a video review and refused to consider a protest.
Silver medallist in Athens 2004 Games Abrahamian, 28, was stopped from going after referees following his loss. He stormed away from the mixed-zone and punched a door to the dressing room.
He went to the repechage matches after some friends' persuading and won a bronze. But Abrahamian walked off the podium and dropped his medal on the mat and walked away. He declared that he retired.
The International Olympic Committee stripped Abrahamian's bronze for violating the spirit of fair play on Aug. 15.
The Armenian-born Abrahamian initially wanted referees in the bout punished and his medal back.
"We limit ourselves to ruling that FILA must, consistently with the (Olympic) Charter and general principles of fairness, establish for the future a jury of appeal to determine the validity or otherwise of complains of that kind ventilated by Abrahamian," wrote the judges.
Judges of CAS said Abrahamian was right, who also noted several times that FILA did not appear at the hearing.
(Xinhua News Agency August 24, 2008)