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Published 1:38 am
Lagos kickboxer Balogun Fatai has alleged that officials at the 20th National Sports Festival in Benin City, Edo State, were biased,
Sunday PUNCH learnt.
A furious Fatai claimed that his opponent, whom he lost to in the final of the 84.6kg category, outweighed him and should have been competing in the 96.4kg, the heavyweight category.
Speaking after his defeat at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium Indoor Sports Hall Friday, the Lagos athlete insisted that he was cheated.
He said, “I was made to fight someone who weighed 96kg while I weighed 84kg. I saw it when the guy climbed the scale and I tried to complain but nobody was listening to me. It was a deliberate act because one of the officials had bragged that he was going to ruin me and he did just that. I have 30 gold medals in my entire career and experiencing this here was totally unfair.”