Deriugina says no to missing another Olympics

(BEIJING, May 28) -- Rhythmic gymnastics judge Irina Deriugina is appealing to suspend the decision made by world governing body FIG to ban her from participating in any of its activities for eight years. If she loses the appeal, Deriugina will miss yet another Olympics as a judge through sanction.

She missed the 2000 Sydney Olympics when she was banned from judging for one year.

A panel led by FIG president Bruno Grandi made a decision on April 21 concerning the sanction of Deriugina, then a member of the RG Technical Committee, over the accusation that she was responsible for "various infringements" of code of disciplines. The sanction includes "excluding Ms Deriugina to participate in any activity of any FIG Committee or Commission with immediate effect and until the end of the cycle 2013-2016 and to cancel (withdraw) Ms Deriugina's RG judge's brevet immediately and until the end of the cycle 2013-2016."

Deriugina was scheduled to serve as a supervising judge at the Beijing Olympic Games, where she would be mainly responsible for correcting poor decisions made by other judges and handling cases concerning discipline.

Deriugina, a two-time world champion and current coach of the gold-medal-contending Ukrainian team, denies all charges and has filed an appeal. FIG said in a statement that it has created a three-person tribunal to begin considering her case. The outcome remains to be seen