Rustemovski Closes Games With Bronze, Football Team Eliminated After 1:5 Loss to Morocco
Macedonia's boxing federation filed an official protest over Rustemovski's controversial semifinal loss, while the U20 football team ended its group campaign with just one point.
Alen Rustemovski closed out his Mediterranean Games campaign with a bronze medal in boxing, after losing a controversial 1:4 judges' decision in the -60kg semifinal to Spain's Evert Andres Marin Hernandez. The Macedonian boxer was more active and landed more clean punches, but four of five judges favored his opponent.
The Macedonian Olympic Committee and the Macedonian Boxing Federation filed an official protest with the World Boxing Federation, believing Rustemovski was wronged. The delegation says that, under the rules, they should receive a response by the end of the day on whether proceedings will be opened for a potential change to the decision.
A Rough End for the Footballers
Less happy news came from the football pitch — the U20 team closed out its Games campaign with a convincing 1:5 loss to Morocco's U19 side in the final group match. Morocco took the lead in the first minute through Hamza Raji, but Darjan Tasev quickly equalized in the 4th minute. Morocco retook the lead in the 36th minute, and confirmed the win with three more goals in the second half.
With this, Macedonia closed out its group-stage football campaign with just one point earned, but boxing and wrestling have brought the delegation six medals so far in a tournament running through September 3.
MKNews Hub · Sport · August 27, 2026