IOC suspends Olympic boxing body AIBA ahead of Tokyo 2020

The International Olympic Committee has suspended Olympic boxing's governing body AIBA and removed their right to organise the tournament at the Tokyo 2020 games.

AIBA, the governing body which oversees amateur boxing, has been subject to a six-month investigation into its finances, governance and refereeing standards, which was launched in November 2018.

Relations between the IOC and AIBA soured when it elected Gafur Rakhimov as president last November, despite the Uzbek being on a United States sanctions list for alleged involvement with a global crime network - allegations which the president denied but were a factor in his resignation in March this year.

IOC president Thomas Bach said after an executive meeting on Wednesday that: "These decisions were taken in the interest of the athletes and the sport of boxing.

"We want to ensure, on the one hand, that the athletes can continue to live their Olympic dreams...while at the same time drawing the necessary consequences for AIBA following the recommendation of the inquiry.

"We have offered a pathway back for lifting the suspension after Tokyo 2020 but for this, there must be further fundamental change within AIBA.

"This is good news [for boxers] because now they will know there will be a boxing tournament in Tokyo...and they will know there will be a safe and fair competition where all the athletes will have an equal chance."

Relations between the IOC and AIBA became abrasive at the 2016 Rio Olympics when 36 officials and referees were suspended amid allegations of bout fixing.

GB Boxing told Press Association sport that they agreed with Bach's assessment: "All of the boxers, coaches, and staff at GB Boxing have worked hard to ensure the uncertainty has not got in the way of our preparations for the Games and as we enter the final stages of the Olympic cycle.

"Everyone will continue to work hard and do everything we can, on a daily basis, to give
our boxers the best possible chance of being successful at Tokyo 2020."

The IOC intends to keep all 13 boxing medal events on the schedule at the Olympic Games next year.

The decision to suspend AIBA will be put before the full IOC membership at their June 24-26 annual meeting.

AIBA can challenge any final decision by IOC members at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and later at Switzerland's supreme court.

With AIBA benched, the IOC has asked the president of the International Gymnastics Federation, Japan's Morinari Watanabe, to lead a task force that will organise the boxing qualifiers and competition in Tokyo.

AIBA itself, which still cannot open any bank accounts in Switzerland because of Rakhimov's American difficulties, is struggling to find new sponsors and faces an indefinite period without IOC funding.