Boxingâs Olympic future in Tokyo doubtful after Gafur Rakhimov's election as AIBA head
The IOC is set to sit down and make a decision on the future of boxing in the Olympic Games after the notorious Gafur Rakhimov was elected as AIBA president in the recently concluded elections. However, the Uzbek businessman claimed that the boxing governing body has âcleaned up their actâ.
The AIBA general elections saw a controversial figure, Gafur Rakhimov, get elected as the president of the international governing body for the boxing. As a result of which, the International Olympic Council will have a meeting to discuss the Olympic future of the boxing ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Games.
As per reports in international media, top IOC officials will weigh the future of boxing as an Olympic event at a meeting in Tokyo which is expected to carry concerns over the sport's governance. Thomas Bach, the president of the IOC, had previously stated in April in a detailed report that AIBA "still lacks execution and substance in some areas" and that the IOC "retains the right to exclude boxing from Tokyo 2020".
However, earlier this month AIBA submitted an updated report which it hopes will address the concerns and IOC officials are expected to decide boxing's fate. Some reports have also indicated that the 2020 competition could be governed by a different body.
The Olympic body has been on the edge with boxing since a judging scandal at the Rio Games in 2016 which saw all 36 officials and referees suspended amidst allegations of bout-fixing. AIBA's finances, anti-doping, and its controversial newly elected president Gafur
"The truth is that I, of course, have never been involved in transnational criminal organisations," Rakhimov told AFP.
