A Chinese gymnastics judge has dismissed as “ridiculous” a finding by an international governing body that he committed fraud last year by falsifying a competition score that helped a Chinese athlete.

The judge, Shao Bin, rated gymnastic competition at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou. He was accused of changing a score in the men's floor exercise final without informing the chief judge, as required. The altered mark moved a Chinese competitor from second place into a tie for first.

The Swiss-based International Gymnastics Federation earlier this week downgraded Shao's status as a judge and ordered him to pay nearly $9,000 in legal costs.

Thursday, Shao told China's official Xinhua news agency that the federation's finding was groundless, and said it failed to provide “any convincing evidence” to support the accusation.