French epee coach Jean Francois Di Martino was given a black card by the Federation of International Fencing (FIE) and excluded from the fencing field of play for the remainder of the competition at the Beijing Olympics on Wednesday.

The ruling was announced after the round of 16 bout between Laura Flessel Colovic from France, and China's Zhong Weiping.

The two sides tied the score at 10-10 in the bout time. In the overtime, Laura led the race by one point, and took it as the symbol of her victory.

However, FIE said in a statement that when both fencers made clear their unwillingness to fight during the overtime, the referee will proceed to the last minute of fencing. The decision infuriated the French coach.

It was the first black card given by FIE at the Beijing Olympics. FIE said the French referee received a yellow card in the round of 32 for the same offence.

(Xinhua News Agency August 13, 2008)