RIO DE JANEIRO — In what’s shaping up to be a long and vicious war, Boxing Canada fired the first salvo at AIBA, the sports governing body, on Thursday.
Calling for the reform of AIBA, Boxing Canada issue a statement making public many of the allegations that have appeared in the media during the Olympic boxing tournament.
The statement reads: “Following questionable decisions and alleged corruption claims occurring at the Rio 2016 Boxing competition, a global strategy is being put in place to pressure AIBA into addressing and correcting the situation.
“Boxing Canada strongly believes that the integrity of our sport and athletes must be protected while faced with injustice and we will not tolerate any unfair judgement. Although small measures have been taken by AIBA, combined efforts with our partners will continue until the integrity of boxing is restored and has reached a satisfactory level. ”
On Wednesday, AIBA announced that several unnamed judges had been sent home after an internal review had found their work unsatisfactory. That, however, didn’t go far enough for Boxing Canada, which hopes other countries will join their crusade.
Both before and during the Olympics, articles have appeared in the media reporting widespread corruption and fight-fixing in AIBA. The issue came to a head in Rio after a series of controversial decisions, most notably a unanimous decision by Russian Vladimir Nikitin over Ireland’s Michael Conlan in a 56-kg fight.
After the fight, Conlan said AIBA is “known to be cheats. Amateur boxing stinks from the core right to the top.” Nikitin was battered so badly in the fight he couldn’t make his semifinal bout against American Shakus Stevenson on Thursday.
“I believe the majority of the boxing world will support this,” Boxing Canada president Pat Fiacco wrote in an e-mail. “The credibility of the sport is in jeopardy. The ramifications of not doing this are enormous. As a member of the AIBA executive committee, I have an obligation to ensure our sport is held to the highest of standards.
“Canada led the figure skating review after the scandal. That’s what Canada does. Those are our values! AIBA I hope will welcome this opportunity.”