IOC strips Olympic status from troubled boxing body AIBA

The IOC stripped Olympic status from troubled boxing body AIBA on Wednesday and will now organize qualifying and final tournaments for the 2020 Tokyo Games.

AIBA had created "very serious reputational, legal and financial risks" for the IOC and its American stakeholders, Olympic inquiry panel chairman Nenad Lalovic said.

The election of AIBA president Gafur Rakhimov, who is under United States federal sanctions for suspected links to eastern European organized crime, prodded the IOC last year to investigate boxing's governance, debts and integrity of Olympic bouts.

International Olympic Committee members voted to endorse the executive board's recommendation last month to suspend AIBA's Olympic status.

Lausanne-based AIBA has said it is near bankruptcy with debts of about $17 million. It is cut off from future income from Tokyo revenues, and the 2019 world championships for men and women in Russia are no longer Olympic qualifiers.

AIBA has an emergency meeting scheduled for Thursday in Geneva, which an IOC delegate is scheduled to attend.

AIBA hoped for a reprieve by Rakhimov leaving his duties to an interim replacement in March, though he could choose to return at any time this year.

"These risks don't disappear by the mere fact of Mr. Rakhimov 'stepping aside,'" IOC board member Lalovic said, noting the Uzbek's "level of influence and control remains uncertain."
In December 2017, the U.S. Treasury Department noted "Rakhimov has been described as having moved from extortion and car theft to becoming one of Uzbekistan's leading criminals and an important person involved in the heroin trade."