Japan, whose protest over the disqualification of a short-track speedskater was rejected Monday, submitted a letter to the International Skating Union on Tuesday, seeking improvements on how the situation over the weekend was handled.

Japan is asking for sanctions against the judges who refused to accept its protests over the disqualification on Saturday.

Japanese officials also want videotapes to be allowed as reference materials in disputes over the judgments of the officiating teams.

The letter also calls on the ISU to increase the opportunities for racing judges to improve their technical skills.

Japan's Satoru Terao was disqualified for impeding another skater on Saturday after winning a semifinal race of the men's 1,000-meter short-track speedskating event at the Winter Games.

Judges at the race ruled that Terao had interfered with the skating of Li Jiajun, causing the Chinese skater to fall and pull down Canada's Mathieu Turcotte as well.

"The judges refused to even look at the protest letter and rejected it without even knowing what the contents of the protest were. This is a violation of the ISU rules," said Kanji Kameoka, a member of the Japan Skating Federation's board of directors.