LAUSANNE, Switzerland - IOC president Jacques Rogge said the dispute over Asian Olympic handball qualifying matches should be resolved by the international federation's rules.

The Asian Handball Federation challenged the ruling by the sport's world governing body to replay the Asian qualifiers following suspect refereeing decisions.

Rogge said Tuesday the process must follow the rules laid down by the International Handball Federation.

"The statutes of the (international) federation provide for an appeal," Rogge said, adding that the International Olympic Committee was not taking sides in the dispute.

The Olympic qualifiers were initially held in September, when referees from Jordan and Iran were brought in at the last minute by the Asian federation to replace German referees.

Their disputed calls helped Kuwait win the men's tournament and Kazakhstan the women's, qualifying them for August's Olympics in Beijing.

In December, the International Handball Federation ordered the qualifiers to be replayed this week in Tokyo. Only Japan and South Korea agreed to take part.

South Korea beat Japan 34-21 Tuesday to secure a place in the women's tournament in Beijing. The South Korean and Japanese men's teams will play Wednesday.

The AHF, headed by Kuwaiti prince Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, has denied match-fixing and said it will punish countries taking part in the replays.

The AHF said on its Web site that it reserved the right to take unspecified "further action" against the IHF decision and reaffirmed its position that Kuwait and Kazakhstan would represent the Asian federation at the Olympics.

The IHF, in a recent letter to the Asian federation, declared it is the "only body endorsing the results of the continental qualifying tournaments for Olympic Games and world championships."

IHF managing director Hala Helmy welcomed Rogge's statement, adding that the Asian federation must abide by the international bylaws.

During a news conference at the European championships in Norway on Sunday, the IHF repeated its position that the Asian qualifiers had to be replayed on the grounds of fairness and correct refereeing.

"We underlined how important this is to us and how we're going to increase controls at international tournaments," Helmy said.