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Boxing

IOC suspends AIBA, special task force to oversee Tokyo 2020

IOC suspends AIBA, special task force to oversee Tokyo 2020
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By

Shivansh Gupta

Published: 23 May 2019 11:47 AM GMT
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has suspended the boxing's governing body, the International Boxing Association (AIBA). IOC has stripped AIBA of the right to organize the tournament at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. A special task force has been handed the responsibility of overseeing the boxing tournament at next year's Olympic in the Japanese capital. The committee will be headed by Morinari Watanabe, the President of the International Gymnastics Federation. He has also been given the responsibility of organizing the qualification system. The qualifications are scheduled to take place between January and May next year. For the task force to decide on the aforementioned and other details like the weight category etc, the IOC has set a deadline of the end of next month. The Independent reported that this decision comes after a six-month long investigation into the crisis-hit federation. It was announced by IOC president
Thomas Bach
, who praised the decision, who said: "This is good news 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". A spokesperson added: "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."
AIBA had been under constant scrutiny by IOC for its inability to be accountable for its finances, governance and refereeing standards. The credibility of referees was also raised at the 2018 AIBA Women's Wold Boxing Championships, with the officials making some bizarre decisions. Things went from bad to worse for AIBA when they elected Gafur Rakhimov as its President, who was on a United States sanctions list for alleged involvement with a global crime network. However, as per the Inside The Games report, Rakhimov claimed that he had committed no wrongdoing and stepped aside in March after month of negative publicity. The Uzbek was then replaced by Moroccan, Mohamed Moustahsane. The newly set-up body has been also been given the freedom to oversee the execution of Continental games. These include the European Games, the Pacific Games, the Pan American Games and the African Games. In a statement sent to Inside The Games, AIBA said: "AIBA has taken note of the announcement made by the IOC. AIBA is currently reviewing the report from the IOC and will not make any comments until further clarification is made, however AIBA does look forward to working with the IOC in the future."
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