International Boxing Association (AIBA) President C K Wu has sent a letter reassuring the Olympic boxing community that there are no problems following a public attack from the World Boxing Council (WBC).
The WBC, boxing’s leading professional organization, complained to International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge over AIBA’s increasing move away from amateurism as the organization’s WBC President José Sulaimán of Mexico claimed AIBA is looking to dominate all forms of boxing and said that the IOC should stop them.
But, the IOC responded to Sulaimán saying it was not an issue for them to get involved with, and in a letter, Wu has provided reassurances to everyone involved with the three AIBA programs which are AIBA Open Boxing (AOB), World Series of Boxing (WSB) and AIBA Pro Boxing (APB) – the latter of which will be launched later this year.
“Recently, the WBC President, Mr José Sulaimán, sent a letter to the IOC President to wrongfully blame AIBA of establishing a monopoly and a restraint of trade by not allowing WBC to send their current professional boxers to the Olympic Games,” said Wu in his letter, which has been seen by insidethegames.
“However, the IOC President confirmed in a letter to me that the IOC would recognize only AIBA as the International Federation representing the sport of boxing in the Olympic Games.
“At the same time, the IOC sports director [Christophe Dubi] also replied to the WBC President that as a result of the IOC recognizing AIBA as the only International Federation administering boxing at world level, AIBA is responsible for the technical control and direction of its sport at the Olympic Games.
“The IOC and AIBA are in regular contact to this effect.
“AIBA has also informed the global media and press in regard to IOC’s full support and confirmation on AIBA’s governing position at all levels for our sport.”
Wu, an IOC Executive Board member, continued that there could be further attacks on AIBA from professional organizations such as the WBC but promised that he will continue in his mission to allow the organization to govern the sport of boxing worldwide in all of its forms.
“The current professional organizations might continue exploring any mean to damage our program in the future,” he wrote.
“However, I would like to ensure that I and AIBA will do our utmost efforts to protect the best interests of all boxers in all AIBA programs, AOB, WSB and APB.
“I would also like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank you all for the support rendered to me in the past six years since my election as the AIBA President.
“Together, we have changed considerably the image of our organization and the way the sport of boxing is administrated.
“We have launched the WSB and thus offered to our best boxers an innovative and fulfilling new career path.
“We have also made some critical changes to AOB competitions (including the removal of head guards and the change of the scoring system) in order to make them both safer and more exciting.
“Last but not least, we are now ready to launch the APB and revolutionize the sport of boxing as a whole.
“APB will reunite the Pro Boxing world with its grassroots, through a highly competitive, clean, structured and ethical competition aligned with the principles of the Olympic Movement.
“It is AIBA’s mission to govern the sport of boxing worldwide in all of its forms and I am very grateful to you for your constant support.”
Contact the writer of this story at tom.degun@insidethegames.biz. To follow him on Twitter click here. Inside the Games is an online blog of the London Organizing Committee that staged the 2012 London Games. The blog continues to cover issues that are important to the Olympic Movement. This article is reprinted here with permission of the blog editors.