Two Olympic swimmers were taken off their flight from Brazil to the U.S. on Wednesday by local authorities amid an investigation into a reported robbery targeting Ryan Lochte and his teammates.

U.S. Olympic Committee spokesman Patrick Sandusky confirmed Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz were detained but had no other details.

Representatives from the U.S. consulate arrived at the airport shortly after the swimmers were held.

The action comes as tension increases between Brazilian authorities and the American swimmers over their account of the robbery.

[ARKANSANS IN RIO: Full coverage of 24 in Olympics]

Lochte said he was with Conger, Bentz and Jimmy Feigen when they were robbed at gunpoint in a taxi by men with a police badge as they returned to the athletes village from a party, several hours after the last Olympic swimming events were held Sunday.

Police have found little evidence to support their accounts, and they say the swimmers were unable to provide key details in police interviews.

NBC reported Wednesday night that Lochte backed off some of his earlier claims. He now says the taxi wasn't pulled over but that they were robbed after making a stop at a gas station.

He also said the assailant pointed a gun at him rather than putting it to his head.

The investigation intensified Wednesday as the swimmers started heading home to the U.S., and a Brazilian judge ordered the seizure of Lochte and Feigen's passports.

The U.S. Olympic Committee said police went to the athletes village to try to collect the passports, but the swim team had moved out.

Lochte already has returned to the U.S., and Conger and Bentz boarded a plane later Wednesday only to be removed by the authorities. Feigen's whereabouts are not known, although he told the San Antonio Express-News he was still in Brazil.

Fighting mad

An undisclosed number of referees and judges have been sent home by the International Boxing Association because of controversial decisions, one of which drew the anger of Ireland's Michael Conlan and the attention of Floyd Mayweather Jr.

"Less than a handful of the decisions were not at the level expected," said a statement from the organization which oversees amateur boxing.

Two results were especially controversial. Judges awarded a victory to Russia's Vladimir Nikitin, although Conlan appeared to have beaten him in a 56-kilogram division quarterfinal. Gary Russell of the U.S. had "clearly been robbed," according to boxing champion Mayweather, in his split-decision loss to Uzbekistan's Fazliddin Gaibnazarov.

On Monday, Evgeny Tishchenko of Russia won the heavyweight gold medal by unanimous decision as all judges scored the fight with Kazakhstan's Vassiliy Levit 29-28.

"AIBA will not shy away from its responsibilities and is fully committed to a zero tolerance policy towards fair play in boxing, always acting in the boxers' utmost interest," the AIBA's statement said.

All the decisions remain final and the organization did not identify the individuals.

Conlan was furious Tuesday, leveling the boxing organization in a profanity-laced tirade on Irish TV and flipping off the judges with both hands.

"AIBA cheats," he said, according to Yahoo. "I'll never box [under] AIBA again. They're cheating b * * * * * * * . They're paying everybody."

Sports on 08/18/2016