Boxing has been threatened to be excluded form the 2020 Games due to its governance issues. Photo / Getty
Boxing has been threatened to be excluded form the 2020 Games due to its governance issues. Photo / Getty
Boxing could be excluded from the 2020 Olympic Games if the International Olympic Committee is not satisfied with the sport's governance.
At a press conference on Sunday, IOC President Thomas Bach threatened that the sport may be knocked out of the Tokyo Games.
Speaking in Pyeongchang ahead of the WinterOlympics, Bach warned that the IOC were "extremely worried" about the governance of Olympic boxing body AIBA, whose new interim president has been linked to organized crime by United States federal authorities.
IOC President Thomas Bach threatened to exclude boxing. Photo / Getty
"The IOC reserves the right to review the inclusion of boxing in the programs of the Youth Olympics 2018 and Tokyo 2020," he said.
Reuters reported that the International Boxing Association were "extremely disappointed" with the announcement, after the body submitted thier requested progress report.
The IOC said that they were not satisfied by the provided report and that they would open an investigation into the body, freezing all contracts with the sport.
The IOC also announced it would freeze payments to the AIBA until the sport body had its governance in order.
The International Olympic Committee's executive board will "decide on further measures" at a meeting next weekend in South Korea which was already due to discuss AIBA's issues, including an ongoing funding freeze.
On Saturday, AIBA named its longest-serving vice president, Gafur Rakhimov of Uzbekistan, as leader until November elections in Moscow.
Rakhimov was described by the U.S. Treasury Department last month as "an important person involved in the heroin trade" connected to the "Thieves-in-Law" crime group.
The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control froze Rakhimov's assets in American jurisdiction and prohibited Americans "conducting financial or other transactions" with him.
The Boxing Association has reportedly had many in-fighting issues. Former president and IOC member CK Wu was provisionally suspended late last year after a dispute with his committee.
CK Wu was provisionally suspended late last year before stepping down. Photo / Getty
AIBA said in a statement that they would comply with the IOC's request of a new report by April 30, and they hoped the Olympic body would understand their request of more time to "implement further measures".
"This decision was made despite AIBA's fulfilment of the IOC's request to submit a Progress Report outlining all steps AIBA was asked to take and continues to take to improve its governance," the statement said.
AIBA said they would carry out a organisational review within the next six months and establish a "New Foundation Plan".
