IOC halt planning for 2020
Gafur Rakhimov THE International Olympic Committee have put plans for boxing at the Tokyo Games in 2020 on hold.
The IOC have launched an investigation into the International Boxing Association (AIBA), amid concerns over governance, ethics and financial management, and could cut ties with boxing’s governing body.
The AIBA’S relationship with the IOC reached crisis point when Gafur Rakhimov was elected AIBA president last month.
The Uzbek businessman has been on a US Treasury Department sanctions list since 2012 for alleged involvement with a global crime network and was named interim AIBA president in January.
Despite his repeated denials of any links to organised crime, the IOC sent strong hints to the AIBA that there would be grave consequences if it left Rakhimov in charge, including withholding the federation’s share of funds generated by the Olympics and banning the 67-yearold from attending the Youth Olympic Games.
The board did lift a ban on funding for individual boxers, but only if the money goes directly to the athlete, not via a national boxing federation, and they prohibited the AIBA from using the Olympic brands, including rings, or any Tokyo 2020 logo.
But in a move that will reassure boxers, the IOC will “make all efforts to protect the athletes and ensure that a boxing tournament can take place at Tokyo 2020 regardless of these measures”.