Melbourne:
Teenage boxer Damien Hooper has been revealed as the Australian athlete sent back home early from the Delhi Commonwealth Games for alleged indiscipline.
Hooper is a middleweight (75kg) Youth World Championships silver-medalist who was ousted at the quarterfinal stage of the Delhi event.
"Australia's best amateur boxer was sent home early from the Delhi Commonwealth Games after an alleged indiscretion in front of an official. Gold medal favourite Damien Hooper, 18, who competed in the middleweight division but lost in the quarter-finals, was sent back to Australia a week early over the incident, a senior boxing official confirmed.
The official did not disclose what exactly Hooper did to be sent home midway through the event but there are reports that he dropped his pants in front of an official after his quarterfinal loss.
When contacted, Hooper, who hails from Queensland, refused to comment, merely stating that, "I'm happy to talk about boxing, but nothing else. Please don't ask me to comment about anything else."
Boxing Queensland's Allen Nicolson defended Hooper and said a minor indiscretion should not result in any major damage to the boxer's career.
"Perhaps he did step out of line in some way ... but it was a little mistake," Nicolson said.
"I know the kid, and it's not the type of thing you would expect him to do. Kids do all that, dropping their daks, but because it's India, it's considered trouble.
"He could have been going to the loo. At 18, he's not exactly a dirty old man. Damien, don't worry about it. You won't go to prison for it."
Australia topped the overall medal tally but had a disappointing boxing campaign failing to fetch a single medal after all their 10 boxers were ousted by the quarterfinal stage.
"I can honestly say we've had a very bad Commonwealth Games in terms of boxing. I'm sure all the boxers would have been in a very depressed state after the boxing. Damien was only just beaten," Nicolson said.