Public opinion is raised with a 'hump-in ceremony', and this time, complaints explode over the 'judgment scandal' → 伊 will strongly protest [Milan Olympics]

*This content was translated by AI.

Pietro Siegel (27, Italy) is making headlines until the end of the 2026 Milan/Cortina D'Ampezzo Winter Olympics. This time, he was embroiled in a controversy over the decision.

The British media Mirror said on the 20th (Korea time) that the 2026 Winter Olympics were confused by another refereeing controversy, adding, "This is because the Italian Skating Union (FISG) filed an official complaint."

In the men's 500m short track, Italian Siegel crashed and fell during Canada's Maksim Roun's overtaking attempt, and on the slow screen, Siegel did not seem to have a big problem, but he was not rescued after the reading. On the contrary, what came back to him was disqualification (DQ) treatment.

As a result, anger raged in Italy, the host country. The media said, "It led to a fierce debate about the judges of this tournament, and the Italian Skating Union entered the debate directly."

The federation president said: "We have witnessed inconsistent and contradictory decisions made by the same referee in dealing with Siegel during this Olympics. Our views were confirmed by coaches and officials from other countries participating in the event, who also expressed similar concerns about the situation on the ice. This makes the situation more serious and worrisome, he claimed.

"We understand the role of regulations and referees. But when such a clear discrepancy is revealed, it is our duty to intervene to ensure the fairness of the tournament itself," he added.

In the end, the federation launched a strong protest against the International Skating Union (ISU) in a statement. "The federation is extremely sorry that ISU failed to intervene to stop this completely inappropriate behavior during the tournament," he said. "We fully support Siegel and acknowledge that he is a treasure in Italy and the international skating community. Pietro has proved his worth on the ice, and we are proud of him."

"We believe and hope that Pietro and his colleagues will respond decisively and bring fully qualified medals for himself and for the entire Italian short track. The federation will strongly protect our players in all appropriate forums."

Of course, the ISU refuted. "Short track is a fast and exciting sport where the game is decided by a very slight difference. To ensure fair and accurate results and protect the integrity of the sport, ISU operates a combination of highly skilled judges with strict regulatory-based procedures, extensive skills, and detailed knowledge of field issues. "The game situation is reviewed based on footage collected through 15 cameras, and a number of judges with decades of experience closely analyze it through a state-of-the-art replay system. All of this process in the video reading room is handled by professional judges with a complete sporting understanding of the situation in the field."

"ISU is disappointed that FISG has questioned the integrity of the judges in a statement to the media. ISU has full confidence in the decisions made by the judges throughout the short track events of the 2026 Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics. In addition, as part of an open, transparent and collaborative approach to short track, we are willing to share with the team delegation the video of the relevant events available."

Siegel is a controversial figure before. At the beginning of the competition, he was the last runner in the mixed relay final on the 10th, and after feeling the championship, he turned back and crossed the finish line.

Siegel said: "It was for the home crowd. Although he said he had no intention of not respecting his opponent, Sports Illustrated (SI) criticized the ceremony as "the most ridiculous and arrogant celebration" and had to be criticized by public opinion that it ignored the players who competed together.

"I can understand how excited Siegel was, who won the gold medal in his homeland, but from any angle, the appearance of mocking his upcoming rivals seems quite arrogant," SI said. "Anyway, this is definitely one of the most memorable pictures ever released at the Winter Olympics."

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*This content was translated by AI.