In Tokyo Olympic ring, boxing on the ropes

Governance: In February, the IOC opened an investigation and said concerns remained over possible match-fixing at the 2016 Rio Olympics. AIBA sidelined all 36 referees and judges used in Rio after the tournament was embroiled in controversy surrounding the new ‘10-point must’ scoring system, with allegations by some defeated boxers that they were robbed of victory. Ireland’s world bantamweight champion Michael Conlan – who turned professional after being controversially beaten on points by Russia’s Vladimir Nikitin in the quarter-final — then said: “They’re f**king cheats. I’ll never box for AIBA again, they’re cheating b****rds, they’re paying everybody.”

In May, Bach said that IOC has not accepted AIBA’s claim that no bouts in Rio were affected by match-fixing. “With regard to the Youth Olympic Games (to be held in August in Buenos Aires), we decided to protect these young athletes who cannot be blamed for all the issues regarding AIBA,” said Bach. “But, under one condition, which means that we want to see the refereeing system — that means the appointments of judges and all the other judges – approved by an independent expertise.”

Finances: Citing that “financial statements have not been made fully transparent”, IOC froze all payments to AIBA last December. Less than a month later, cash-strapped AIBA reached an out-of-court settlement with Azerbaijani company Benkons to end a legal fight over a critical $10 million loan, and later settled with Hong Kong firm FCIT. It is not the first time that AIBA has had IOC funds blocked, as the Olympic body withheld payments of more than $1 million of TV rights from the 2004 Athens Olympics after a refereeing scandal.

Earlier this year, AIBA became compliant with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), and also increased quotas for women, both in the ring and on its ruling executive board, fulfilling IOC’s anti-doping and gender equality requirements. But Bach shrugged off the developments, claiming “(it) shows some progress and shows goodwill, but still lacks execution and in some areas lacks substance.”

Weightlifting off the hook?

The IOC was more positive about “concrete steps” taken by the International Weightlifting Federation to control the sport’s persistent doping problems, including cutting places for countries with historical doping issues, including Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. Weightlifting only has “conditional inclusion” on the 2024 programme. The Olympic board will review progress at its November 30-December 2 meeting in Tokyo.