Boxing Federation Rejects Accusations

(ATR) Amid IOC worries about governance issues for international boxing federation AIBA, the federation insists all is well.

AIBA President C.K. Wu and IOC President Thomas Bach met in Lausanne Monday to review the situation which has put a hold on the next payment to the federation from its share of Rio Olympics TV revenues .

Around the Rings is told that the second payment, due in November, amounts to about $6 million, 40 percent of the $17 million due AIBA from Rio.

In the meeting Monday at IOC headquarters, Wu was asked for assurances from the IOC President that reforms and changes are taking place. The IOC wants to be certain that it is comfortable with the operation of the federation before making its next payment.

In addition to judging issues and athlete misbehavior in Rio de Janeiro, the IOC is also concerned about the contents of a confidential report for AIBA by business consultancy PWC. That report examines the circumstances of a $10 million loan from an Azerbaijan company that was supposed to finance the U.S. franchises of AIBA’s World Series of Boxing.

The money is gone and is two years past the repayment requested by the Azeri investor. The report questions the chain of command at AIBA and raises the possibility that Swiss law was broken with the way the loan was handled.

Despite the crisis with IOC funding, the AIBA Executive Committee passed a resolution unanimously Monday endorsing the course being taken under the leadership of Wu, who has been president for 10 years.

"The AIBA Executive Committee has gathered today to show that, even in the face of malicious, unfounded attacks that have dared to call the honour of us all into question, we will stand unified," says Wu in a statement.

"I speak for AIBA, the Executive Committee and all our National Federations when I say that we will not tolerate any misrepresentation of our collective spirit, either internally or externally. The discussions and outcomes of today’s meeting show that AIBA can move forward into the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Cycle stronger than ever," says Wu.

The attacks referenced by Wu come from Ho Kim, fired in 2015 as the AIBA executive director. Last week, in his first public comments since the firing, Kim sent a 16-page letter to the 200 national federations that make up AIBA. Kim accuses Wu of being a liar and says he was fully aware of the circumstances of the Azerbaijan loan.

The AIBA executive meeting came a day before an extraordinary congress in Montreux, Switzerland. The congress is supposed to endorse changes that address issues with judging at the Olympics as well as governance issues of concern to the IOC.

On the financial front, accusations from the fired executive director that AIBA is facing a money crunch did not raise alarms. The AIBA panel unanimously approved the financial plan for the next year.

After the congress Dec. 19 in Montreux, AIBA delegates and guests will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of AIBA with a black tie gala.

Written by Ed Hula.

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