.Controversial silat referee Jasni Salam took responsibility for his errors in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games final, but added that other officials present had to shoulder the blame, too, reported The New Paper (TNP), which tracked him down on Tuesday.
In the Class A 45-50kg final on 17 November, the 52-year-old awarded Indonesia’s Dian Kristanto the gold medal even though the Indonesian bit Thai opponent Anothai Choopeng, ran away from him and then hid behind the referee’s back.
Speaking to TNP at the Eunos Community Club, Jasni admitted to making the glaring errors, but denied allegations that he intentionally tried to swing the match Indonesia’s way.
“My conscience is clear… I made some poor refereeing decisions in the final, but there was no kelong (corruption),” the veteran referee of 20 years told TNP.
Jasni told the same paper that despite the mistakes he made, officials in the arena had the power to correct his decisions, and that in silat, the referee’s decision is not final. Moreover, points are awarded by the five jury members seated around the arena, not the referee.
TNP reported that in one instance, other referees present actually tried to inform Jasni of his failure to penalise Dian, however, the former Singapore national coach did not heed their advice and also failed to pick out other infringements in the next round.
“If I was doing so badly, why didn’t they substitute me with another referee, which is within their rights to do so?” Jasni told TNP, admitting also that he had failed to notice the referees’ council trying to get his attention during the match due to the chaos and noise.
Jasni's bewildering actions caused much outrage after the match.
In the Class A 45-50kg final on 17 November, the 52-year-old awarded Indonesia’s Dian Kristanto the gold medal even though the Indonesian bit Thai opponent Anothai Choopeng, ran away from him and then hid behind the referee’s back.
Speaking to TNP at the Eunos Community Club, Jasni admitted to making the glaring errors, but denied allegations that he intentionally tried to swing the match Indonesia’s way.
“My conscience is clear… I made some poor refereeing decisions in the final, but there was no kelong (corruption),” the veteran referee of 20 years told TNP.
Jasni told the same paper that despite the mistakes he made, officials in the arena had the power to correct his decisions, and that in silat, the referee’s decision is not final. Moreover, points are awarded by the five jury members seated around the arena, not the referee.
TNP reported that in one instance, other referees present actually tried to inform Jasni of his failure to penalise Dian, however, the former Singapore national coach did not heed their advice and also failed to pick out other infringements in the next round.
“If I was doing so badly, why didn’t they substitute me with another referee, which is within their rights to do so?” Jasni told TNP, admitting also that he had failed to notice the referees’ council trying to get his attention during the match due to the chaos and noise.
Jasni's bewildering actions caused much outrage after the match.
