The scandals in boxing
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talkpoliticsYou must have heard of AIBA/ IBA (International Boxing Association), the scandals and why they are banned from the Olympics. Here's the chronology.
So it all begun when it became apparent they had fixed matches in both the 2016 Rio games, and the 2012 games in London.
Integrity Clearly at Issue Within the IOC and the AIBA
This was too much even for corrupt organizations such as the IOC. Add to that that AIBA was in deep financial trouble at the time. So IOC suspended them for the Tokyo games in 2021, and instead had the boxing events been run by IOC itself. So you'd think things would get better now, they were punished for their previous actions, the old leadership was sacked, and everything would get better enough for them to participate again, right? Oh, no, this story was just beginning.
So who took over the AIBA (now called IBA)? Well Uzbek heroin smuggler and crime boss Gafur Rakhimov of course! So now they were led by a criminal.
Can An Alleged Uzbek Crime Boss, Heroin Trafficker Save Olympic Boxing?
And it got worse. I mentioned they had financial problems. They found a sponsor to solve all that. Between 2021 and 2023 they were sponsored by.... Gazprom. Basically money from Daddy Putin's own pockets.
IBA’s Kremlev: Gazprom commercial tie-up has ended
And while they were sponsored by Putin, they of course did not ban Russian athletes like other sports federations, instead they naturally banned Ukrainian boxers!
IOC to review IBA after surprise Ukraine ban, junior sanctions
So today Rakhimov is gone and the Gazprom sponsorship is over, so how are they doing now? They are still under Kremlin's thumb with their current President being pro Kremlin oligarch Umar Kremlev. Things has not gotten any better. Russian boxers are favored in an unfairly manner. And yes they have disqualified female boxers for being "men" without any due process after allegedely having failed unspecified "gender eligibility tests". Said boxers had been able to compete in IBA organized events for years without any problems. Especially when it came to Imane Khelif, it came suspiciously after she beat Russian favorite Azalia Amineva.
So is there hope for international boxing? Yes, there is a rival association now called World Boxing, led by Dutch boxing executive Boris s Van Der Vorst, who has previously run for IBA leadership, but his candidacy was mysteriously declared invalid. Is another association the solution here? Who knows. At least it's not under the Kremlin thumb. For now Olympic boxing is still organized directly by the IOC (also not a very good solution).
What is the IBA? Governing body behind Olympic boxing storm has Russian ties, troubled history
>But you can also look at this as a microcosm of what's going on in international sports. Greed, corruption, cheating and dictators running things. It has all the classics.
So it all begun when it became apparent they had fixed matches in both the 2016 Rio games, and the 2012 games in London.
Integrity Clearly at Issue Within the IOC and the AIBA
This was too much even for corrupt organizations such as the IOC. Add to that that AIBA was in deep financial trouble at the time. So IOC suspended them for the Tokyo games in 2021, and instead had the boxing events been run by IOC itself. So you'd think things would get better now, they were punished for their previous actions, the old leadership was sacked, and everything would get better enough for them to participate again, right? Oh, no, this story was just beginning.
So who took over the AIBA (now called IBA)? Well Uzbek heroin smuggler and crime boss Gafur Rakhimov of course! So now they were led by a criminal.
Can An Alleged Uzbek Crime Boss, Heroin Trafficker Save Olympic Boxing?
And it got worse. I mentioned they had financial problems. They found a sponsor to solve all that. Between 2021 and 2023 they were sponsored by.... Gazprom. Basically money from Daddy Putin's own pockets.
IBA’s Kremlev: Gazprom commercial tie-up has ended
And while they were sponsored by Putin, they of course did not ban Russian athletes like other sports federations, instead they naturally banned Ukrainian boxers!
IOC to review IBA after surprise Ukraine ban, junior sanctions
So today Rakhimov is gone and the Gazprom sponsorship is over, so how are they doing now? They are still under Kremlin's thumb with their current President being pro Kremlin oligarch Umar Kremlev. Things has not gotten any better. Russian boxers are favored in an unfairly manner. And yes they have disqualified female boxers for being "men" without any due process after allegedely having failed unspecified "gender eligibility tests". Said boxers had been able to compete in IBA organized events for years without any problems. Especially when it came to Imane Khelif, it came suspiciously after she beat Russian favorite Azalia Amineva.
So is there hope for international boxing? Yes, there is a rival association now called World Boxing, led by Dutch boxing executive Boris s Van Der Vorst, who has previously run for IBA leadership, but his candidacy was mysteriously declared invalid. Is another association the solution here? Who knows. At least it's not under the Kremlin thumb. For now Olympic boxing is still organized directly by the IOC (also not a very good solution).
What is the IBA? Governing body behind Olympic boxing storm has Russian ties, troubled history
>But you can also look at this as a microcosm of what's going on in international sports. Greed, corruption, cheating and dictators running things. It has all the classics.
