Rakhimov punches in as new AIBA boss

MOSCOW - Controversial Uzbek businessman Gafur Rakhimov was elected president of the International Boxing Association (AIBA) on Saturday, despite fears his ascendency could lead to the sport being kicked out of the Olympic Games.

Rakhimov won 86 of the 134 second-round votes in the ballot in Moscow to KO his only opponent, former boxer Serik Konakbayev of Kazakhstan.

Rakhimov, previously interim president, has courted controversy since being linked to organized crime by the US Treasury Department.

He has vigorously denied the allegations, telling AFP in a recent interview that he had "never been involved in transnational criminal organizations ... or whatever has been said about me".

He called his presence on the US Treasury list a "mistake" and hoped it would be "corrected" within six months.

But in October the IOC froze relations with the AIBA and refused to accredit the 67-year-old for the Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires.

IOC president Thomas Bach said in February he was "extremely worried about the governance of AIBA".

Amateur boxing's beleaguered chiefs handed over a report on internal reforms to the IOC in April, but the threat of the sport losing its standing in the Olympic movement remains.

On the eve of his election, Rakhimov assured delegates and fans that "boxing will naturally be at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, Paris in 2024 and Los Angeles in 2028".

And addressing a post-election media conference on Saturday, he said he would "continue to work with the IOC".

"We'll reach an agreement" with the Olympic body, he stated, adding: "If we don't reach an agreement, we will think about how not to make boxing suffer."

Saturday's election was delayed several hours after a glitch shut down the AIBA's electronic voting system. A secret vote only went ahead after the AIBA was able to get its hands on a replacement ballot box.

Until last week, Rakhimov was the only presidential candidate after Konakbayev, who won silver at the Moscow Games in 1980 for the Soviet Union, was barred from standing by an election commission for allegedly failing to submit certain forms by the deadline.

Konakbayev subsequently lodged an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which ruled in his favor.

After missing out on the top job, Konakbayev said: "It's not the end but the beginning of a movement to reform this federation and save boxing. We won't give up the fight."

Rakhimov's bid hit a hitch on Friday.

At the opening of the congress in Moscow he had proposed to temporarily withdraw as president if elected in order to avoid a conflict with the IOC.

The plan would allow the AIBA president to step aside for up to a year while retaining his rights on the association's executive committee. But it failed to win the necessary two thirds support from delegates.

By voting time on Saturday, Rakhimov had done enough to convince the electorate he was the man to lead global amateur boxing into an unknown future.

The IOC has been losing patience with the sport since a judging scandal at the 2016 Rio Games that saw all 36 boxing officials and referees suspended while allegations of bout-fixing were investigated.

An internal power struggle then saw the previous president, Chinese Taipei's Wu Ching-kuo, ousted after what was called a "forensic investigation" revealed "gross negligence and financial mismanagement of AIBA affairs and finances."

Rakhimov assured the congress before his election that AIBA has been restructuring its financial management model.

"As many of you know, when I took over from the last administration earlier this year our financial situation was in terrible condition. AIBA had debts that reached almost $40 million," he said.

"I'm happy to report that we have managed to restructure successfully."

The IOC said on Saturday that it took "notice of the decisions taken by AIBA".

"The IOC has made it clear from the outset that there are issues of grave concern with AIBA regarding judging, finance, and the anti-doping program, and with governance - which includes but is not limited to the election of the AIBA president," said a spokesman.

"As planned, we will now carefully evaluate all these areas at the next IOC executive board meeting in Tokyo (Nov 30-Dec 2).

Agence France-Presse