Updated - ATR First - Olympic Boxing Leaders Call for Dubai Congress, Documents

(ATR) Olympic boxing federation president C.K. Wu is requested to produce documents relating to controversial financial transactions for AIBA.

That demand, along with calls for an extraordinary Congress, appeared to signal alarm bells for Wu’s presidency. Since a stormy meeting of the ruling executive committee in Moscow last month, Wu has been under scrutiny over his management of the federation. In particular there are concerns that the solvency of AIBA is at risk due to an unpaid $10 million loan and other financial transactions which have gone sour.

On Sunday in Hamburg, on the sidelines of the 2017 AIBA Boxing World Championships, a dozen members of the EC convened a meeting of the national federations.

"This was a meeting that was intended to have EC members inform the National Federations about the current financial situation in AIBA. It was also an opportunity for National Federations to ask questions and express how they feel," Pat Fiacco, an EC member from Canada tells Around the Rings.

The press release issued by the EC is published below the story.

While not a formal meeting of the EC, the 12 members present approved three documents requesting action from Wu, who was not in attendance.

Signed by each EC member at the meeting, one document requests the contracts and other information on the financial questions faced by the federation. This includes the $10 million loan by the Azerbaijan company Benkons, a $19 million investment by a Chinese firm FCIT and the sponsorship with Alisport, a division of Alibaba, announced earlier this year.

A second document calls for an extraordinary executive committee meeting in September to set the stage for an extraordinary Congress in November to be held in Dubai. The third document submitted to Wu ratifies the call for that Congress which will include a voteof no-confidence in the boxing federation leader, who has served since 2006 and has one year left in his third term.

Wu left Hamburg late last week to travel to China for the National Games. He is expected to return to the boxing championships early this week. Wu has been asked in the documents to take action to schedule the requested meetings by September 1.

Fiacco says the EC prefers Dubai as the site for the September and November meetings because it is a central location without significant visa requirements.

Wu could not be reached for immediate comment.

Fiacco, aformer mayor of the Canadian provincial capital Regina, is acting as spokesman for the Interim Management Committee which formed at the Moscow EC meeting in July. The IMC contends it has the power to take control over AIBA when circumstances warrant. Wu is challenging the legitimacy of the IMC and a ruling from a court in Switzerland is expected within a week or two.

Regardless of the ruling of the court about the legitimacy of the IMC, Wu appears to have no support among the dozen and a half members of the Executive Committee. That may make it difficult for him to avoid the wishes of the majority of the ruling EC.

"The EC are more united than ever before," says Fiacco.

"The EC are committed to ensuring the future of AIBA goes back to the members of AIBA instead of the control of one person. The National Federations were very appreciative of the EC sharing this information with them and have thrown their support to the EC," says Fiacco.

While Fiacco says the world championships "are going off extremely well" he says that Wu has failed to utter a word to Jurgen Kyas, the president of the German boxing federation and the chairman of the local organizing committee. He is also one of the AIBA EC members who back the call for the vote of no-confidence.

"Unbelievable behavior from the president," says Fiacco.

AIBA EC Press Release

Hamburg, August 27, 2017

"On Sunday, August 27th the AIBA Executive Committee met with members of the National Federations to provide information about the grave danger to AIBA’s existence due to gross financial mismanagement and lack of transparency by its current President CK Wu.

The meeting at the Hyperion Hotel in a jam-packed room provided for some great dialogue between National Federation members and the Executive Committee. National Federations were able to express their feelings about AIBA - in particular how increasingly expensive it has become for national federations to participate at major AIBA events. Evidence of this is the high price that host countries must pay to bid on major events such as the World Championships.

The EC shared with the national federations their concerns in regards to the financial situation of AIBA. At the EC meeting in Moscow this past July, auditing company KPMG reported that effective June 30th, 2017 AIBA was in debt by CHF 5 million for a total indebtedness of CHF 15 million YTD. They also shared the outstanding $10 million loan that must be paid back to Benkons by the end of August 2017 as well as the CHF 19 million investment from Chinese company FCIT that it has requested to be paid back.

National Federations were very surprised by this news and deeply concerned about the future of the sport they love.

There was representation from countries of all confederations including Asia, Africa, Europe, Americas, and Oceana. National Federation representatives spoke of their own personal experiences that have negatively affected the sport of boxing in their country. They expressed their gratitude to the EC for finally taking action to correct the financial mismanagement of AIBA. They also made it clear that they are all looking forward to the Extraordinary Congress to be held in Dubai on November 12th, 2017 where they will have the opportunity to secure the future of AIBA.

Confederation presidents, who are also AIBA VPs, shared with the members how their funding from AIBA has been drastically reduced. This has resulted in a decrease of staff and reduced services to national federations. However, the AIBA office has seen an increase in resources and the President continues to receive CHF 200,000 to operate his personal office in Taiwan as well as receiving over CHF 20,000 a year in per diems.

The EC has demanded to receive the finance reports of the last three years, which were never approved by the EC, from CK Wu. However, till today he has refused to do so. We therefore suspect that AIBA’s financial situation is even more dire as President Wu has continually avoided revealing this to our members.

This financial mismanagement has a trickle down effect to every local gym in the world where young men and women look to boxing as their path to success in life. A place where the vulnerable can participate in a sport that provides discipline, self-confidence and a safe haven.

The EC has therefore called an Extraordinary EC meeting to be held on September 23rd in Dubai in order to get to the bottom of these serious financial issues.

The Executive Committee strongly believes that AIBA is about the Olympic Spirit and every person who loves boxing - not about one person.

As EC VP Franco Falcinelli said so eloquently: "For 10 years, we fully supported him, but now we have been forced to modify our position, because President Wu forgot that the truth is an essential part of ethical behavior."

The EC wants to bring truth and the Olympic Spirit back."

Reported by Ed Hula.