adminTOKYO. — The International Olympic Committee yesterday froze preparations for boxing at the 2020 Games and launched a probe into the sport’s troubled governing body, warning it could be stripped of the right to run the competition.
The IOC stressed it still wanted boxing to go ahead at Tokyo 2020 but warned its inquiry into the International Boxing Association (AIBA) “can lead to the withdrawal of (its) recognition”.
But the IOC said it would make “all efforts to protect the athletes and ensure that a boxing tournament can take place at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 regardless of these measures”. It added that it still had concerns over the “governance, ethics and financial management” of AIBA, which last month elected as president a controversial Uzbek businessman linked to organised crime by the US Treasury Department, a claim he denies. IOC sports director Kit McConnell said qualifying for the 2020 boxing tournament had been put on hold, making it the only sport not to have its qualifiers approved.
“We are not going ahead, while the inquiry is underway, with any qualification system for the Olympic boxing competition in Tokyo,” McConnell said.
“The step today is a very significant one and I’m not sure it’s one that’s ever been done,” added the sports director. — AFP
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