Paris Olympics boxing champion Asadkhuja Muydinkhujaev violated traffic rules speeding up to 110 km/h in central Tashkent. He posted a video of himself driving a Chevrolet Tahoe marked “President's present” on Instagram, and later deleted it.
In the clip, the boxer can be seen getting into the car and driving in a small street, gradually increasing his speed.
Tashkent’s main interior department told Gazeta.uz the offence was under investigation. Spokesman for the traffic police Kahramon Khudoyberganov told Daryo.uz: “The law applies to everyone equally, and responsibility for any violation is inevitable”.
Soon, the traffic police said Asadkhuja Muydinkhujaev was fined for exceeding the allowed speed limit of 60 km/h by 50 km/h to a sum of over 3 million soums ($240).
Popular bloggers condemned Muydinkhujaev’s actions. Lawyer Khushnudbek Khudoyberdiyev wrote that with the prize money of $200,000 the athlete could theoretically afford to commit the same offence 823 more times.
“Unfortunately, we all are to blame. Under the video on Instagram, out of more than 130 comments, only one or two were critical of the violation. The rest supported Asadkhuja’s actions. One commenter even wrote, 'Go ahead, goats (used to insult someone in Russian — Gazeta.uz), inform the traffic police'”.
“This is why about 10 people die in car accidents on our roads every day. When will a law be passed to revoke driving licences from drivers who brag about their offences online? When will the law introducing penalty points be finalised? In general, when will there be order in this field? How long should we wait for stricter liability? Why are we sleeping? Isn’t it shameful that our laws allow individuals to pay and continue violating?” he asked.
Asadkhuja Muydinkhujaev won the Olympic boxing gold medal in the 71 kg weight class. Along with other gold medallists, he received $200,000, a Tahoe car and a two-storey house. He also received the honorary title of 'Ozbekiston Iftikhori' (Pride of Uzbekistan).
