Official Statement From Steve Perceval
Jun 9, 2011
(PRESS RELEASE) -- Official release regarding the Adrian Pang vs
Muhsin Corbbrey decision appeal.
There was a lot of controversy over the decision handed down by the judges on the Adrain Pang vs Muhsin Corbbrey U70kg fight on CFC 17 held at Southport Sharks, Gold Coast on the 3rd June 2011.
Both teams believe that their fighter had done enough to win the
closely fought bout, so when the decision was delivered by the MC
announcing as a split draw both teams were devastated and
questioned the judges scores. An appeal was made immediately by
Adrian Pangs manager Tony Green requesting that the scores be
checked.
That night the score keepers sheet was checked and all additions were correct, however it was not till I returned to Sydney that I cross referenced the judges score cards to the score keepers tally. It was at this stage I discovered an error made by the score keeper, when transferring the judges scores to the score sheet the score keeper accidently wrote a wrong result in one of the rounds.
On relaying this information to both teams a counter appeal was made by Corbbrey team requesting a No Contest as they had concerns of professional misconduct and impropriety by the judges. Corbbrey team understood and accepted the score keepers mistake knowing it was made accidently and by human error, and even though the Cobbrey camp does not agree with the judges scores the appeal was raised with concerns that the judges appeared to be acting in a prejudice manner. With the circumstances surrounding the incident at the venue and with the judges revealing their score publically I could understand Corbbreys concerns and took the matter very seriously.
As I was responsible for investigating the appeal I wanted to demonstrate to both teams that there was no prejudice involved in the appeal process and enforce that they would receive a fair decision. For this reason I sought expert official advice from several external sources, in NSW and the USA. At no stage were these external officials involved in the appeal process, they were only extending me some professional courtesy by supplying some advice and precedents on my request.
After reviewing all the evidence and deliberating on the matter, I decided to stand by the judges scores giving Adrian Pang the victory.
I would like to apologies to Adrian Pang and Muhsin Corbbrey for this unfortunate mistake and for taking so long to make the final decision, both fighters deserve the utmost respect and admiration and both fighters conducted themselves in a professional and sportsman like manner at all times.
As mentioned the mistake made by the score keeper was accidental and human error plays a part in everything we do but as an official working in a professional capacity I need to try and minimize or eliminate mistakes from happening. Judges and referees need to take their responsibility seriously by continually reviewing their own performance and not rest on what they think they know or how long they have been around the traps. A professional fighters record and livelihood can depend on a judges decision, judges need to realize that their decision can impact on a fighters career. This is the very reason I formed the MMAOA and have worked tirelessly to produce professional officials who follow a code of conduct and take their roles as officials very seriously, the fighters deserve nothing less.
-- Steve Perceval
There was a lot of controversy over the decision handed down by the judges on the Adrain Pang vs Muhsin Corbbrey U70kg fight on CFC 17 held at Southport Sharks, Gold Coast on the 3rd June 2011.
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That night the score keepers sheet was checked and all additions were correct, however it was not till I returned to Sydney that I cross referenced the judges score cards to the score keepers tally. It was at this stage I discovered an error made by the score keeper, when transferring the judges scores to the score sheet the score keeper accidently wrote a wrong result in one of the rounds.
When adjusting the score sheet with the correct score a winner of
the bout became apparent, according to the judges scores the winner
was Adrian Pang. This was an unfortunate accident which has now
changed the decision from the announced split draw decision to a
split decision win to Adrian Pang.
On relaying this information to both teams a counter appeal was made by Corbbrey team requesting a No Contest as they had concerns of professional misconduct and impropriety by the judges. Corbbrey team understood and accepted the score keepers mistake knowing it was made accidently and by human error, and even though the Cobbrey camp does not agree with the judges scores the appeal was raised with concerns that the judges appeared to be acting in a prejudice manner. With the circumstances surrounding the incident at the venue and with the judges revealing their score publically I could understand Corbbreys concerns and took the matter very seriously.
As I was responsible for investigating the appeal I wanted to demonstrate to both teams that there was no prejudice involved in the appeal process and enforce that they would receive a fair decision. For this reason I sought expert official advice from several external sources, in NSW and the USA. At no stage were these external officials involved in the appeal process, they were only extending me some professional courtesy by supplying some advice and precedents on my request.
After reviewing all the evidence and deliberating on the matter, I decided to stand by the judges scores giving Adrian Pang the victory.
I would like to apologies to Adrian Pang and Muhsin Corbbrey for this unfortunate mistake and for taking so long to make the final decision, both fighters deserve the utmost respect and admiration and both fighters conducted themselves in a professional and sportsman like manner at all times.
As mentioned the mistake made by the score keeper was accidental and human error plays a part in everything we do but as an official working in a professional capacity I need to try and minimize or eliminate mistakes from happening. Judges and referees need to take their responsibility seriously by continually reviewing their own performance and not rest on what they think they know or how long they have been around the traps. A professional fighters record and livelihood can depend on a judges decision, judges need to realize that their decision can impact on a fighters career. This is the very reason I formed the MMAOA and have worked tirelessly to produce professional officials who follow a code of conduct and take their roles as officials very seriously, the fighters deserve nothing less.
-- Steve Perceval
