Emmanuel Thomas l Friday, Nov.30, 2018
LAUSANNE, Switzerland – The International Olympic Committee(IOC) has put on hold any financial payments to the International Boxing Association(AIBA), including boxing-related payments scheduled by Olympic Solidarity and to launch inquiry into its finances.
It also opted to freeze the planning for the Olympic boxing tournament at Tokyo 2020, including official contact between AIBA and the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee, ticket sales, approval and implementation of a qualification system, test event planning and finalisation of the competition schedule; prohibit the use by AIBA of the Olympic properties, including the Olympic rings and Tokyo 2020 logo for any communications/advertising and/or promotional materials.
The IOC also lifted the freezing of Olympic Solidarity funding for athletes, on the condition that no funding can be applied for or paid through a national boxing federation. The IOC took the decisions following the designation of President of the association, Gafur Rakhimov as a key member and associate of a transnational organised criminal network by the US Treasury Department.
IOC also raised concern about the state of financial transactions in AIBA. In a comprehensive report in 2018, auditors EY stated that uncertainty still persists about the ability of the organisations to continue as a going concern.
“We have not been able to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to provide a basis of an audit opinion. Audit reports for the financial statements of 2017 and 2018 are omitted from AIBA’s website”, the auditors said .
Addressing its concern, that IOC said it understands that AIBA is unable to maintain or open a bank account in Switzerland, where its headquarters are based.
“This is the initiation of a procedure which can lead to the withdrawal of recognition for AIBA”, the IOC said, adding that the decision came after AIBA had submitted a Progress Report to the IOC, as required by the EB decision of 19 July 2018, detailing its current situation regarding governance, financial management and sporting integrity.
“Today, the EB acknowledged AIBA’s progress and its commitments highlighted in its Progress Report, but several points of significant concern remain, in particular in the areas of governance, ethics and financial management”, which the IOC said requires further investigation and the opportunity for AIBA to respond to any findings.
The IOC EB acknowledged progress in the area of PwC report on refereeing and judging at the Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires 2018 and found that none of the key observations caused concern to the boxing competitions, and that the tournament’s integrity and credibility had not been affected.
The IOC also maintain the previous decisions by the IOC Executive Board to:“freeze all contacts with AIBA, except the ones on the working level which are necessary to implement the respective IOC decisions”; suspend any financial payments to AIBA, including directly boxing-related payments scheduled by Olympic Solidarity, until: “the IOC Executive Board has reviewed and confirmed being satisfied with further proof of AIBA’s ability to continue as a going concern (along with the supporting documents which form part of the financial statements audits: cash flow projections); AIBA has engaged in a full and independent audit after implementation of the new control mechanisms (organisational policies and process) in order to demonstrate the result of the implementation”.
According to the IOC, its Executive Board makes all efforts to protect the athletes and ensure that a boxing tournament can take place at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 regardless of these measures.
The EB appointed IOC Member Mr Nenad Lalovic as Chair of the ad-hoc Inquiry Committee. He will be joined by IOC Member Mr Richard L. Carrión and IOC Member and athlete representative Ms Emma Terho.
