Amateur boxing could face expulsion from Tokyo 2020 Olympics
After a series of high-profile scandals, the International Olympic Committee made a threat that boxing could be excluded from the 2020 Games.
Following an executive board meeting in Pyeongchang, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) expressed its dissatisfaction with the Amateur International Boxing Association (AIBA) and warned boxing could be omitted from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
After match-fixing concerns, the IOC’s board has frozen contracts with AIBA, as well as financial payments to it.
The IOC claimed it was “not satisfied” with a report by AIBA about its governance, refereeing and anti-doping issues.
“Last December, the IOC EB had already expressed major concerns regarding the situation within AIBA. It identified several specific requirements to be met by AIBA, particularly in the areas of governance, financial matters, anti-doping, judging and refereeing,” a statement by the IOC reads.
'The IOC reserves the right to review the inclusion of boxing on the programme of the Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires 2018 and the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.'
Manipulated draws and bouts
The scandal began in 2016, when AIBA was accused of manipulating draws and bouts at the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics.
According to reports by The Guardian, a network of corrupted officials decided the score on certain bouts, including the medal matches.
By October 2016, AIBA had suspended all 36 officials in the Rio Olympics.
An AIBA’s special investigation committee conceded that “there was a lack of proper procedural norms” and that other problems “had a detrimental impact on in-competition best practice” in Rio.
Suspended referees are being scrutinized on a case-by-case basis to determine if they’re worthy of reinstatement.
Referring to the international association, IOC President Thomas Bach said he is “extremely worried about the governance in AIBA.”
“(There) is still no real clarity of the finances” and that the IOC “cannot see a real robust anti-doping program in AIBA.
“We have been on this case of the refereeing in Rio,” Bach added.
AIBA confident the sport will be at Tokyo
AIBA told BBC Sport that it will “satisfy” the concerns of the IOC.
Pat Fiacco, a member of AIBA’s executive committee, said: 'We are working in partnership with the IOC to ensure that we correct all of the mismanagement issues from the previous AIBA leadership that has created these problems.
'We will ensure that we satisfy the IOC concerns. We are confident that the great sport of boxing will not be removed from the Youth Olympic Games and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.'
Boxing has been featured at every edition of the Summer Olympics, apart from Stockholm 1912, because the sport was banned in Sweden at the time.