TOKYO, Jan 19: The Asian Handball Federation may appeal to arbitrators about Japan and South Korea having to replay their regional Olympic qualifiers, ordered because of dubious refereeing, a report said Saturday.

Federation officials have told the International Handball Federation (IHF), who ruled that the matches be played again, it may take the issue to the Court of Arbitration in Sport, Kyodo News said, citing a Japanese handball official.

The replays were organised after the IHF last month declared the original results invalid due to bad refereeing decisions and ruled that the Asian qualifying rounds be re-staged.

Kuwait, which presides over the Asian Handball Federation, won all four of its matches in the men’s round in Japan last September and qualified for the Olympics.

But the matches drew protests that referees from the Middle East had been biased towards Kuwait.

If the replays go ahead, Kuwait and Kazakhstan could lose their tickets to Beijing.—AFP