POC/ABAP president Ricky Vargas and POC communications director/ABAP secretary-general Ed Picson left Manila for Moscow last night to attend the two-day AIBA World Congress that will culminate with the election of a permanent president on Nov. 3.
The future of boxing as an Olympic event is still up in the air because of alleged improprieties involving interim AIBA president Gafur Rahimov of Uzbekistan. The IOC Ethics Commission has declared Rahimov “unsuited” to assume the AIBA presidency and IOC director-general Christophe de Kepper refused to issue the Uzbek credentials for the recent Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires.
Boxing was held in Buenos Aires without Rahimov’s attendance. IOC sports director Kit McConnell said the event delivered the athletes’ experience with integrity and credibility as the “focus was in the ring and on the field of play.” There were 82 fighters from 38 countries in the five-day, 109-bout competition that had nine gold medals for boys and four gold medals for girls at stake.
The Philippines failed to qualify a fighter for the Youth Olympics. The 13 gold medalists came from eight countries. Asian countries that were represented in Buenos Aires were Uzbekistan (three boys, one girl), Thailand (three boys, two girls), Kazakhstan (three boys, two girls), Iran (one boy) and India (one girl). Aside from the Philippines, missing from the cast were China, South Korea, Chinese-Taipei and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The Asian countries that took medals were Uzbekistan (one gold, two bronze), Thailand (two gold, two silver, one bronze) and Kazakhstan (one gold, two silver, one bronze). Thailand batted 100 percent as all five Thai fighters bagged medals. The Asian gold medalists were Uzbekistan’s Abdumalik Khalokov (56 kg. boys), Thailand’s Atichai Phoemsap (60 kg. boys), Kazakhstan’s Aibek Oralbay (91 kg. boys) and Thailand’s Panpatchara Somnuek (57 kg. girls).
At the recent Asian Games, Rahimov’s influence was evident as seven Uzbek fighters went to all seven men’s finals with five eventually claiming gold. The 100 percent batting average for the finals was considered highly unlikely unless the referees and judges were in connivance.
After the Youth Olympics, AIBA made a pitch to remain in the Olympic calendar with an Olympic Results and Information Service (ORIS) report detailing new technologies to assure prompt and accurate delivery of results, protocols and ceremonies before the IOC in Montreaux, Switzerland. Rahimov was not with the AIBA delegation which was headed by AIBA executive director Tom Virgets of the US and AIBA executive committee member Pat Fiacco of Canada.
Picson said aside from the AIBA presidency, what will be decided in the Congress are new members of the executive board and presidents of the continental federations. For the Asian Boxing Confederation (ASBC), the candidates for president are Pichai Chunavajira of Thailand and Anas Al-Otaiba of the United Arab Emirates.
ASBC president Serik Konakbayev of Kazakhstan attempted to postpone the AIBA elections but the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has ruled the polls to go on as scheduled. CAS is expected to decide any day now whether Konakbayev’s appeal to be included in the AIBA elections will be upheld or not. To be eligible as a candidate for AIBA president, there must be at least 20 nominations from member countries. Konakbayev failed to muster the required number before the deadline last Sept. 23. But Konakbayev claimed he was able to gather at least 20 by Sept. 24.
“Serik’s argument is the deadline of Sept. 23 was a Sunday and under Swiss law, deadlines are extended to the next working day when they fall on a Sunday or a non-working day,” said Picson. “It seems Serik got to 20 nominations on the 24th.” If Konakbayev’s appeal is upheld, he’ll run against Rahimov for the AIBA presidency. If it’s not upheld, Rahimov will run unopposed and that won’t sit well with the IOC.
The AIBA polls will be supervised by chairman of the election and ethics commissions Jost Schmid of Switzerland with Dennis O’Connell of the US and Annemarie Stark of Germany as election commission members. Rahimov, 67, has been accused of engaging in organized crime and his travel is restricted because of sanctions stemming from his alleged unlawful activities. He’s not even allowed to visit the AIBA head office in Lausanne. But Rahimov has been involved with AIBA since 1995 and recently came to its rescue with a financial bailout in the wake of bankruptcy proceedings.