Two-time world champion wrestler and Olympic bronze medalist Frank Chamizo said that he rejected a $300,000 bribe to throw a match during last week's European wrestling Olympic qualification tournament in Baku, Azerbaijan. Chamizo, a Cuban national who competes for Italy, ended up losing the match to Turan Bayramov following a controversial late call.
With the score tied 8-8 at the end of the semifinal, Chamizo scored two points that would have won him the match and allowed him to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics. The judges had awarded him the points, but they would later be overturned after a challenge from Bayramov's coach was upheld. In a post on Instagram, Chamizo attributed the decision to "a group of bribed and corrupt people" -- the decision gave the win to Bayramov, who is Azerbaijani -- while also making further claims about corruption in the tournament to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica.
"I knew that I had to give double, triple in Azerbaijan because I was fighting in their country and they had bought everyone," Chamizo said. "I did it, but then something happened that has echoes of wrestling many years ago.
"So I want to say it: They came to me and offered me $300,000 to lose. I don't want to say who, but it happened on the morning of the weigh-in."
Chamizo, who earned bronze at the 2016 Olympics, will still have another chance to qualify for the Paris Olympics at next month's world qualification tournament in Turkey. He also said that he does not fear retribution for speaking out on being approached with a bribe, alluding to how he now lives in Italy after growing up under communism in Cuba.
"Am I worried about paying for these comments there? I come from Cuba. I'm not scared of anything," Chamizo said. "Now I am in a free country. I can say what I think and what I want. No one will stop me."
