No end in sight as Aiba-IOC squabble spreads to Africa

THE row raging on between International Olympic Committee (IOC) and world amateur (now called open boxing) boxing body has filtered down to the African continent with the national federation adopting a wait-and-see approach.

This week IOC president Thomas Bach warned that boxing may be kicked out of Olympic Games if its governing body International Boxing Association (Aiba) does not show signs of reform.

This after Aiba was embroiled in infighting with its former president Wu Ching-Kuo being accused of financial mismanagement which ultimately led to his resignation.

Wu, who is the member of IOC, has since been installed as Aiba honorary president in a deal said to have been taken as a compromise.

Despite the move IOC is still not happy with how the amateur world boxing governing body is being run with the resolutions taken in its Dubai Congress a fortnight ago still failing to convince the Olympic committee.

One such decision was to install Gafur Gafur Rahimov as an interim president.

Rahimov’s name is appearing in a US list of organised crime with alleged ties to drug-trafficking

However according to Aiba’s statute, the Uzbek qualified for the position due to his lengthy period as a vice-president.

Insiders have revealed that while Aiba funds are being frozen by IOC until the body meets all its obligations, Rahimov has been secretly funding some projects.

While this is raging on, the African continent has also been affected with the suspension of Sossa Simawango Clement of Gabon as the African Boxing Confederation interim president.

Simawango was appointed by Wu as an interim with insiders revealing that SA National Boxing Association (Sanabo) and Ilithaborn Andile Mofu was to take over the reins on a full-time basis.

However after Wu eventually succumbed to pressure and left Simawango found himself in the cold and was summarily suspended on allegations of dabbling into professional boxing.

He has since been replaced by Moroccan Mohammed Moustahsane.

Mofu declined to associate himself with the raging feud.

This despite being one of the delegates to Dubai a fortnight ago.

“I went there as the national federation president and nothing else,” he said.

“We are watching the developments with keen interest.”

In a hard-hitting statement, Aiba said it was disappointed by IOC’s demand to submit a report on Aiba governance by April 30.

“This decision was made despite Aiba’s fulfilment of the IOC’s request to submit a progress report outlining all steps Aiba was asked to take and continues to take to improve its governance, ” the statement said.

“This decision is extremely disappointing for Aiba as it hoped the IOC executive board would have understood that the processes necessary to implement even more measures require more time and that the positive steps already taken in recent times are evidence of Aiba’s strong efforts and willingness to reform.”

The saga has now cast doubts on the scheduled World Youth Championships in Australia in April.