Life bans reduced for shoplifting boxers

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Three Romanian boxers banned for life for shoplifting have had their suspensions reduced to a year, a senior official said Tuesday.

The Amateur International Boxing Association (AIBA) has softened its stance since sending the trio home from last year's amateur world championships in Chicago.

"The AIBA reduced the punishment for all, but it didn't forget them," Romanian Boxing Federation president Rudel Obreja told Reuters.

"They were not considered innocent as their one-year ban was maintained."

Marius Bogdan Dinu, 21, Ronald Gavril, 21, and Iulian Stan, 20, were accused of stealing goods in a Chicago department store last October and sent home in disgrace.

All three protested their innocence.

Dinu, a former world junior champion Bogdan Dinu, has since turned professional.

(Reporting by Radu Timofte; Editing by Alastair Himmer)