The IJF referees at the Paris 2024 Games are the best in the world and have also carried out their delicate work on the World Judo Tour for the past four years. They are recognised for their professionalism, experience, impartiality and honesty.
According to the Sport and Organisation Rules (SOR), article 1 of the refereeing rules, which is in force and applied here in Paris: "The assignment of the referees to each contest is done using the IJF competition software. The selection is done to guarantee nation neutrality and gives approximately the same number of assignments to each referee on the tatami. After following these conditions, the selection made is completely random. The best referees from the preliminaries, on that day, are selected for the final block. At the end of the competition each referee is given an evaluation (score). This score is then added to the IJF referee ranking list."
The system that randomly draws the allocation of selected referees for a contest is internationally certified as completely random and with no room for manipulation.
The same professionalism, experience, impartiality and honesty goes for the referee supervisors and members of the IJF Refereeing Commission who assist the referees in their decision-making, supported by a state-of-the-art video review system which is provided for OBS and visible on the international feed for the public to see anytime there is a referee commission review in progress.
All competitions are also reviewed by the IJF supervisors and referee directors live, even if no official review by the referee on the tatami has been requested. The aim is that the right decisions are made during the competition so that the correct winner leaves the mat without any doubt.
In this context the accusations reported by the Italian media and underlined by the Italian federation, which question the regularity of the results of some contests, suggesting that there was a desire for injustice or manipulation, are completely unfounded. All decisions, whatever they may be, are taken on the basis of a clear and precise analysis of the factual elements of each contest, strictly according to the rules applied, publicly available and well known to all delegations.
Statements released to the press by members of the Italian Judo Federation have no basis in reality. The rules are followed, verified and applied.
Everything that is disputed during the competition concerns penalties. There were no scores made by the athletes in question. We must not forget that the objective of any judo competition remains to win with an ippon or waz-ari score.
Each case is documented and can be consulted with full transparency and justification upon request. We have not received any official request for review and are surprised to see unfounded arguments or comments. Following this feedback, we present publicly, with full transparency, the reasons for each decision taken and each sanction applied.
The International Judo Federation is committed to the values of sport and the moral code of judo. That is why the IJF pays special attention to respecting the rules and principles during the World Judo Tour events and in particular during the Olympic Games Paris 2024. The IJF is committed, more than anything, to fair play and to the philosophy of the sport. In judo, there is no room for manipulation.
Paris 2024 Contests
-52 kg Krasniqi KOS vs Giuffrida ITA (Quarter final)
- 3:50 white Sasae-tsurikomi-ashi 1-0
- 3:25 white Sasae-tsurikomi-ashi 2-0
- 3:35 Shido blue False Attack
- 2:55 blue losing grips and falling down (FA) 1
- 2:30 white O-uchi-gari 3-0
- 2:35 blue losing grips and falling down 2
- 2:00 Shido blue False Attack
- 1:35 blue losing grips and falling down 3
- 1:00 white Uchi-mata 4-0
- 0:35 blue Ko-soto-gari 4-1
- 0:05 blue losing grips and falling down 4
GS
- 0:25 blue losing grips and falling down (FA) 5
- 0:45 white Uchi-mata 5-1
- 0:55 blue falling down on the knees 6
- 1:20 blue Seoi-nage 5-2
- 1:40 blue losing grips and falling down 7
- 1:45 – 209 Shido white & Shido blue, both no taking grips (24 sec)
Conclusion
- Attacks white 4, blue 2
- False attacks blue 2 – Shido
- Attacks losing grips and falling down 6, two of them could be False Attack
Conclusion
- Attacks white 5 vs Attacks blue 2
- Falls attacks white 0 vs Falls attacks blue 2
- Falling on knees white 0 vs Falling on knees blue 7
-52 kg Pimenta BRA vs Giuffrida ITA (Bronze medal contest)
- 3:30 blue Seoi-nage 0-1
- 3:10 white Seoi-nage 1-1
- 2:45 blue O-uchi-gari 1-2
- 2:35 white Seoi-nage 2-2
- 2:20 white O-uchi-gari 3-2
- 2:00 blue Seoi-nage 3-3
- 1:40 blue Tomoe-nage 3-4
- 1:35 Shido white non-combativity
- 1:15 blue Seoi-nage 3-5
- 0:45 white Seoi-nage 4-5
- 0:15 blue Tomoe-nage 4-6
GS
- 0:35 blue falling on the knees (FA)
- 0:35 blue Ko-uchi-gari 4-7
- 0:40 Shido white non-combativity
- 0:55 white Seoi-nage 5-7
- 1:15 white Tai-otoshi 6-7
- 1:40 white Kata-guruma 7-7
- 1:40 Shido blue gripping under the belt
- 1:55 white Seoi-nage 8-7
- 2:15 blue Seoi-nage 8-8
- 2:25 white Seoi-nage 9-8
- 2:35 white Seoi-nage 10-8
- 2:35 Shido blue non-combativity
- 2:55 white Yoko-gake 11-8
- 3:10 blue falling on the knees (FA)
- 3:30 blue Tomoe-nage 11-9
- 3:45 white falling on the knees (FA)
- 3:55 white O-soto-gari 12-9
- 4:05 white Seoi-nage 13-9
- 4:05 Shido blue non-combativity
Conclusion
- Attacks white 13 vs Attacks blue 9
- Falling on knees white 1 vs Falling on knees blue 2
-73 kg Lombardi ITA vs Gjakova KOS (Quarter final)
- 3:35 blue Ko-uchi-gari 0-1
- 3:25 blue Sumi-gaeshi 0-2
- 3:00 blue Harai-goshi 0-3
- (3:00 here should be Shido white already)
- 2:40 white Kata-guruma 1-3
- 2:00 white Kata-guruma 2-3
- 1:30 Shido white False Attack
- 1:15 blue Harai-goshi 2-4
- 0:40 white Kata-guruma 3-4
- 0:10 Shido white & Shido blue non-combativity
GS
- 0:10 blue Soto-makikomi 3-5
- 0:20 blue Uchi-mata 3-6
- 0:30 white Kata-guruma 4-6
- 0:35 blue Sumi-gaeshi 4-7
- 1:10 Shido white False Attack
Conclusion
- Attacks white 4 vs Attacks blue 7
- Falls attacks white 2 vs Falls attacks blue 0