The head of the Russian Boxing Federation on Wednesday called for “big reform” of the International Federation in a last-ditch bid to keep the organisation in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
The call came a week after the International Olympic Committee recommended AIBA be barred from organising the Olympic Boxing tournament because of governance issues. “We must move from words to deeds...to re-elect the entire AIBA leadership,” said Russian boxing head and AIBA executive committee member Umar Kremlev.
“It is necessary to carry out the most serious reforms in AIBA as soon as possible,” he said in a statement, adding that addressing the organisation’s debts should be a primary concern. We must listen and accept all the comments made by the IOC, eliminate all the shortcomings that still exist. Our goal is to protect the interests of boxers and coaches.”
The IOC’s recommendation needs to be approved at a full IOC session in June, but its adoption is likely to be a formality. If AIBA is kept away from the Games, it will be the first international federation blocked from organising its own sport at the Olympics.
The IOC has been losing patience with boxing since a judging scandal at the 2016 Rio Games when all 36 officials and referees were suspended while allegations of bout-fixing were investigated.
Last year the federation elected controversial Uzbek businessman Gafur Rakhimov as its head but he has since resigned. Rakhimov has been linked to organised crime by the US Treasury Department but he has vigorously denied the allegations, saying his presence on a sanctions list was a “mistake”.