体坛英语新闻：Georgian judo chief coach resigns over Olympic gold medalist being expelled from 2010 worlds

TBILISI, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The chief coach of the Georgian national judo team on Saturday presented his resignation for the incident of the country's 2008 Olympic gold medal-winning judoist's being expelled from the 2010 World Judo Championships.

Amiran Totikashvili offered to resign while the Georgian Judo Federation dismissed the coaching squad for the national team that came back from the Tokyo worlds medalless.

"The coach-in-chief made a good decision," said Georgian Sports Minister Vladimir Vardzelashvili.

The executive committee of the Georgian Judo Federation on Saturday started a hearing about the incident of the country's 2008 Olympic gold medallist Irakli Tsirekidze's being expelled from the world championships.

Tsirekidze, also a 2007 world championship titlist, was expelled from competition for being late to report to the tatami after three official calls in Tokyo on Sept. 9.

The incident stirred up an uproar in Georgia which cherishes judo, wrestling, soccer and basketball as national sports.

Tsirekidze also tucked under his belt a silver and a bronze from the 2007 and 2008 European championships.

On Sept. 9 in Tokyo, Tsirekidze was reportedly preparing in the warm-up area after winning two bouts against a Ukrainian and a Uzbek. The sports minister said that the name of the candidate for coaching the national judo team would be submitted on Monday for approval.