`Big Brother' to keep an eye on judges

After the charade of the Houston World Championships last year and corrupt decisions in previous games boxing's own `Big Brother' will be in action during Sydney's Olympic tournament. The five appointed judges watching the bouts will be watched by video cameras as they sit at their scoring computers at ringside.

There has been worry expressed about the future of boxing at subsequent Olympics, especially so soon after Houston when the Cuban team walked out.

"The cameras will be in a position that the judges will be looking from, seeing the shots and seeing when they are pressing the button. It's a problem when you get officials from five continents. The standard in Europe might be quite different from that of Africa and Asia and that of America," said a British official.

The judges have red and blue buttons to press, and a point is scored only if at least three of them press their electronic key pad within one second of each other. When two boxers trade blows in a flurry of fighting, and no full force punches can land, the judges will wait until the end of the exchange and award a point to the dominant boxer in it.

It has been reported that the International Amateur Boxing Association would double the value of any bribe offered to the judge, if IABA were informed and proof was supplied. The idea, announced at a judges' seminar in Kazakhstan, apparently appeared in an IABA newsletter last month.