Egyptian claim Lukeman was underweight as a flurry of complaints on biased officiating from Tunisia, Ghana, Algeria and DR Congo officials marred the boxing tournament
In a surprising twist of events, Kenya’s Lukeman Shaffi was ruled underweight but received a silver medal as questionable officiating tainted the image of World Boxing in the inaugural African School Games boxing tournament in Annaba, Algeria especially in the finals on July 31 and August 1.
This was the first ever boxing competition held in Africa under the auspices of World Boxing 
While Kenya’s national team head coach Musa Benjamin was happy Lukeman won a silver medal, he told boxersworld.co.ke he was surprised why the the Algerians changed the weight category during the weigh-in.
Lukeman was due to have fought Algeria’s Hesnaoui Mouhamed Amine in the 42-44kg category.
“He weighed 43kg, that’s okay at 44kg maximum but surprisingly they changed it to from 44 to 46 which now made Lukeman underweight,” said Musa questioning the motive of the Algerians in making a last-minute change in the weight category.
“What they should have done from the beginning is bring a boxer matching Lukeman’s weight and age. Instead they brought Amine whom we don’t even know his weight since coaches were not allowed in the weigh-in room,” said Musa.
Ahead of the finals, Amine was seen severally running in the Games Village probably to shed weight.
Despite Lukeman and Amine not fighting they both received their medals albeit with raised eyebrows from Kenya’s team.
During the medal ceremony, it was noticeable Amine – awarded gold – was heavier and older than Lukeman. He’s likely to be 16-17 years while Lukeman celebrates his 14th birthday on August 21.
Biased officiating skewed in favour of the Algerians marred the African School Games boxing tournament with most officials hitting out at the referees and judges most of whom were Algerians.
Officials from DR Congo, Ghana, Tunisia and Egypt vehemently complained on questionable officiating which they said has tarnished the image of World Boxing in their first ever boxing event in Africa.
Congolese Boxing Federation Deputy Secretary-General Pierre Ambongi was furious on the loss of featherweight Pambu Phoba Kerene to Algeria’s Bahri Besma in the girls featherweight finals.
“The Algerian girl did nothing but block our daughter’s hands, an extreme and egregious refusal to box but at the end of each round, they only awarded points to the Algerian woman,” said Ambongi, adding:”Even worse, they gave our girl a public warning for no reason, and this took away her points.”
Ambongi went on:”This is terrible and sad situation for boxing and especially for young school children who want to start a career in boxing. They have soiled the image of World Boxing who must punish the R&J’s involved in this shame to save face.”
In the girls featherweight final, three judges were Algerians while the other two were from Tunisia and Namibia. The latter was reportedly pocketed by the Algerians dancing to their tune in bouts he officiated.
An angry Ghana coach Charles Quartey kicked chairs annoyed by the decision in the flyweight class in which his boxer Laryea William was robbed of victory against Algeria’s Boubliaa Yacine.
“They’re robbing us here in Algeria, this is shameful my boxer was obviously the winner. I’m shocked how the Algerian was declared the winner,” fumed a visibly disturbed Quarter, a former star international boxer.
Kenya’s national boxing team head coach Musa Benjamin said he witnessed a Tunisian boxer breaking window panes to let off steam after being denied victory.
Musa said it’s bad for the image of boxing for a young boxer like Lukeman Shaffi to watch some boxers weeping and shedding tears on leaving the ring because of biased officiating.
“Hapa naona majaji wacheza poker kweli sasa nami ningepigana ningechezewa poker pia (I’ve seen judges here playing poker games on some boxers meaning if I boxed I would have been a victim),” observed Lukeman.
