IOC suspends solidarity funding for Boxing related activity
According to a worldwide communiqué issued by the International Olympic Committee Olympic solidarity funding for boxing related activities have been suspended.
The letter said “Further to the current situation within the International Boxing Association (AIBA) and, in accordance with the recent decision taken by the IOC Executive Board during its meeting in Pyeongchang, which have been widely reported in the press, the following measures have been put in place by Olympic Solidarity :
1. All Olympic Solidarity boxing related activities are suspended until further notice, including: i) individual scholarships allocated to athletes preparing for the Olympic Games, Tokyo 2020. ii) Athlete preparation subsidies for the Youth Olympic Games 2018 in Buenos Aires iii) Athlete preparation subsidies for all continental and regional games 3 Technical courses for coaches iv) Individual scholarships for boxing coaches v) Development of national sport system projects in boxing.
This means that no Olympic Solidarity funding can be used for these activities. However, any Olympic Solidarity boxing related activities that have already taken place but for which the administrative/financial process has not yet been finalised, should be concluded as per normal procedures.
2. No future Olympic Solidarity activities, which are boxing related will be allocated until further notice.
We are counting on your collaboration to ensure that the decisions taken by the IOC Executive Board are respected and implemented.
Should any aspect of the above-mentioned measures not be clear, the Olympic Solidarity team in Lausanne and in your respective Continental Association remain at your disposal for any further information or explanation.
However the problem arose when the IOC nearly expelled Boxing from the 2020 Tokyo Games.
Boxing faces expulsion from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Among serious problems highlighted by IOC President Thomas Bach included the appointment of Gafur Rakhimov, a Uzbek allegedly linked to organised crime, as Interim President of the International Boxing Association (AIBA).
An investigation into AIBA governance has been opened by the IOC, run by its chief ethics and compliance officer, Paquerette Girard-Zappelli.
Bach also said they have not yet accepted AIBA’s claim that no bouts at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro were affected by match-fixing.
When asked how the NOCSL would get impacted by the impending situation its Secretary General Maxwell de Silva told the Sunday Times “The International Olympic Committee sends in grants for the development of various sports and boxing is one of its beneficiaries. There have been instances that the NOCSL have assisted Lankan boxers in following solidarity courses under this scheme and this will be halted until notice is revoked by the IOC authorities”.