Tournament organisers should stop moving goalposts in a brazen attempt to massage their vested interests, Kenya's national boxing team captain Nick Okoth has said.
Speaking exclusively to the Star on Tuesday, the Hit Squad flyweight pugilist lividly lashed out at the organisers of the just concluded AIBA World Boxing Championships in Serbia, alleging they played a damning role in Kenya's humiliation at the games.
Okoth said the facilitators failed to lay bare the rules governing play in the ring, thus exposing all the Kenyan pugilists to easy defeats.
"We realised late in the day that the rules were quite different from those we were subjected to at the Tokyo Olympics." said an agitated Okoth.
Kenya's hunt for gold turned into yet another nightmare akin to the Tokyo debacle, as the 13-man Hit Squad contingent flopped terribly in their determined bid for medals at the prestigious global show.
Okoth said the Sh11 million cash prize that was introduced this year, propelled the stakes to unprecedented levels, giving the tournament the much-needed competitive edge.
Okoth jumped to the defence of the coaching unit, insisting they had no hand whatsoever in the big flop.
"Our coaches can't be blamed in any way. They gave us top-notch preparations only for the judges to use completely different guidelines in determining the winners of bouts," said Okoth.
In an earlier interview, head coach Bernjamin Musa described the mishap as a perfect learning experience .
"It was never going to be easy for us considering the high calibre of boxers that graced the championships. I'm sure our boxers picked up some crucial lessons heading into the Commonwealth Games," said Juma.
The Serbia debacle was the second in the string of such heartbreaks after the team also emerged from the Tokyo Games with an empty basket. However, they still have two major competitions to redeem their severely damaged image.
Okoth said they have already begun punching furiously on the bag with eyes now set on the forthcoming Commonwealth Games slated for Birmingham in July.
"Immediately after returning from Serbia, we went back to camp to embark on preparations ahead of the Commonwealth Games. I believe we have gathered sufficient experience along the way both in Tokyo and Belgrade which will prove useful in Birmingham," said Okoth.
