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This could get messy.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC), which suspended payments to the International Boxing Association (AIBA) last year due to concerns about their operation, has decided to maintain the freeze after deeming the AIBA’s progress report unsatisfactory. AIBA must submit a new report by April 30th and faces the possibility of boxing being excluded from both the upcoming Youth Olympics and the 2020 Games.
In addition to the recent history of bizarre decisions, including Satoshi Shimizu’s robbery loss to Magomed Abdulhamidov, controversy surrounds Interim President Gafur Rakhimov, a man whom the U.S. Treasury Department referred to as “one of Uzbekistan’s leading criminals.” Previous President C.K. Wu resigned late last year after being accused of “financial mismanagement” to the tune of eight digits.
Honestly, I’d be fine with axing the event until AIBA gets its crap together. Even by organized sporting standards, the corruption is absolutely blatant, and if a scorched-earth strategy is what it takes to fix it, be my guest.