Boxing head linked to crime

A boxing official described as “one of Uzbekistan’s leading criminals” by United States authorities has been named interim president of the Olympic sport’s governing body. The International Boxing Federation (AIBA) said its vice president Gafur Rakhimov was promoted after the “unexpected resignation” of interim leader Franco Falcinelli.

“Rakhimov has been described as having moved from extortion and car theft to becoming one of Uzbekistan’s leading criminals and an important person involved in the heroin trade,” the U.S. Trea- sury Department said last month when it announced freezing any assets he held under American jurisdiction. Still, the long-serving AIBA vice president is set to lead the Switzerland-based organization for the next nine months until a scheduled election in Moscow.

AIBA was “obligated to follow the statutes” requiring the senior vice president to fill any vacancy, executive committee member Pat Fiacco told The Associated Press. He spoke by telephone from Dubai where national boxing federations held a special congress.

“There is nothing negative that the executive committee can say,” Fiacco said, adding that Rakhimov has “contributed positively” to AIBA.

Rakhimov was linked last month to “Thieves-in-Law” by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, which said the group “originated in Stalinist prison camps.”

“The Thieves-in-Law has grown into a vast criminal organization which has spread throughout the former Soviet Union, Europe, and the United States, engaging in a variety of crimes, such as money laundering, extortion, bribery, and robbery,” the federal office said. /