By Arfang M.S. Camara
The Committee Nationale de Gestion de Lutte (CNGL) of Senegal have rejected the appeal of Hoyontan and confirmed the victory of Baye Mandione in a letter dated 29 December 2021, but was only made public on Thursday 6th January, 2022.
According to the letter, the Regulation and Disciplinary Committee validated the referee’s verdict claiming that the Referee blew his whistle before the fall took place.
Reacting to the verdict Matarr Saine, Manager of Club Ndongo Ceesay, said he will take the decision in good faith but still believe that his wrestler won the bout.
“We did what the rules said because we were not in line with the final decision of the referee. Now that the appeal result is out, we can’t but take it in good faith. But the reality is there for everyone to see and the funny part is that they accepted that a fall did happen.”
Mr. Ceesay added that: “Baye Madione had his four contacts on the ground but they added that it happened after the referee had blown his whistle to stop the fight. We are still saying that is wrong, the referee didn’t blow his whistle and I challenge them to see our evidence.”
Hoyontan’s appeal was linked to that of Bombardier’s appeal against Balla Gaye II. Bombardier was awarded the winner over Balla Gaye II through warnings but he (Bombardier) later appealed to the CNG saying Balla Gaye II earlier had his four contacts on the ground. CNG later considered Bombardier’s appeal and later awarded him victory on the above subject-matter of the appeal.
According to Matarr, he is still struggling to understand why Bombardier was given victory over Bala Gaye II following his appeal and Hoyontan’s appeal rejected by the same committee.
“I just can’t understand how they awarded Bombardier victory and rejected ours because both actions started in the ring and finished outside. In Fact ours is more close to the ring than the one between Bombardier and Bala Gaye,” a dejected Saine added.
This is the second time Hoyontan and Baye Madione fought and each of the fights was marked by controversy.
Hoyontan won the one hosted in The Gambia while Baye Madione won the most recent meeting hosted in Senegal. It remains to be seen if a third meeting will be organised to determine who wins this battle.
