'Devastated' Team Scotland star Brooke Neely calls out referee after crushing 2026 Glasgow Commonwealth Games defeat
Updated 27/07/2026 at 22:23 GMT+1
React to this story
Team Scotland boxer Brooke Neely was left "devastated" after a two-point deduction for holding consigned her to defeat against Sri Lanka's Nadeeka Ranasinghe at the 2026 Glasgow Commonwealth Games on Monday.
Tearful Neely calls out referee after controversial boxing loss
Video credit: TNT Sports
Defeat sent Neely out of the women's 51kg category at the round-of-16 stage.
In an emotional interview, Neely told TNT Sports she was "devastated" by the ruling, and felt her opponent "was doing just as much holding", and said she was trying to work around it.
"I thought I won the fight definitely, easily," Neely said. "It wasn't my best performance. My coaches said I won, I think I won every round, and then the ref takes points off.
"It’s been strict here, everyone knows that, but she was doing just as much holding and making it a mess, so it was up to me. I had to box long range, as I tried to do today, but I’m devastated."
Neely is a four-time British and six-time Scottish champion, but was making her Commonwealth Games debut in her home country.
"I usually get unlucky at tournaments, this was my first big one," she said. "I’ve been working 12 years to get here."
In the TNT Sports studio, Delicious Orie - who won Commonwealth gold in the men's super-heavyweight event in 2022 - extended his sympathy for Neely.
"Absolutely disheartening," Orie said. "I speak from experience, I’ve boxed in Olympic Games. I lost in a 3-2 split decision, it was an awful feeling.
"I was welling up a little when she was crying because I understand that pain, it’s awful. It feels like the win has been stripped from you.
"All you think about is progressing, particularly in your home nation.
"The first thing you think about when losing, particularly when it’s so close, is how many people you’ve let down. It’s not even about yourself, it’s horrible, horrible."
Olympic silver medallist Iwan Thomas, meanwhile, said: "She’s fought well, and a couple little mistakes and it’s cost her the fight.
- Whitehouse seals dominant gymnastics floor gold for England
- Double delight for Scotland as hosts take men’s pommel horse silver and bronze
"She will be feeling the weight on her shoulders, but I hope she can reflect on it and realise she’s a great fighter and she’ll come back.
"We’ve spoken about it before, the disappointment of sport. Sport can make you but it can break you. Let’s hope it makes her more determined to come back."
Controversial refereeing decisions have been an unwanted theme in the opening days of the Glasgow Games. On Sunday, Northern Ireland's Josh Hale hit out at what he described as a "joke" of a refereeing performance, criticising perceived leniency over the holding rule.
/origin-imgresizer.tntsports.io/2026/07/26/image-d8986ca6-931a-43f7-a4ce-8119370ec3ac-85-2560-1440.jpeg)
'It's just a joke!' - Hale lashes out at refereeing decisions after controversial defeat
Video credit: TNT Sports
”I thought I performed really well and I still had more left in the tank, but unfortunately the referee just kept letting him hold on and wasting time,” he told TNT Sports.
”There was no warning, there was a 10-second delay, letting him take a breather and then me having to get my way into the fight. It’s just a joke.Â
”I have worked this hard just to have it taken away by a referee. I’m really gutted because I know I could have won that fight if it was a different referee.”
- - -
Add TNT Sports as a preferred source here to enjoy more content like this.
Related Topics
Advertisement
Advertisement