Cash for gold claim casts shadow over 2012 boxing

THE WORLD governing body for amateur boxing has promised an immediate investigation into BBC claims that Olympic medals are being sold to Azerbaijan.

The Newsnight programme was informed by whistleblowers that the cash-strapped World Series Boxing (WSB) accepted $9m for the promise of two gold medals for Azerbaijan at London 2012. "Medals are being sold so blatantly it’s amazing," Newsnight was told.
 
The charges are potentially devastating for a sport that has long been associated with corruption.

Both the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) and its subsidiary competition WSB have issued strenuous denials. AIBA president Dr Ching-Kuo Wu called the claims "ludicrous" and "totally untrue".
 
The scandal revolves around WSB’s chief operating officer, Ivan Khodabakhsh, who is repeatedly cited by the anonymous informants. One told Newsnight: "Ivan boasted... as long as the Azeris got their medals, WSB would have the cash."

Another insider described how Khodabakhsh had said: "We are safe now - Azerbaijan came in - we have to give them medals for that."

Leaked emails show correspondence between Khodabakhsh and an Azerbaijani government minister, Kamaladdin Heydarov, about the alleged payoff. One reads: "Please transfer the investment money soonest possible to the WSB America account."

AIBA has not denied that it received an investment of $9m but claimed it came from a private Swiss company and was legitimate funding, not a bribe.
 
Suspicion will now fall on the WSB world championships which begin in Azerbaijan on Monday, and will determine Olympic qualification.
 
The WSB, conceived as a glamorous international competition to rival the professional sport, was launched last year to much fanfare. It quickly became mired in financial difficulties, with several franchises and sponsors pulling out.

Promoter Barry Hearn told the BBC the situation at the WSB was so dire that "if an investor comes into this scheme with $10m I can only think he's arrived from another planet".
 
AIBA claims to have made addressing corruption a priority. President Wu told Newsnight that during his tenure "four vice-presidents, a secretary general, six [members of the] executive committee, [were] all expelled because of wrongdoing." He also introduced a policy of appointing independent AIBA judges. Under the previous system of countries supplying judges, "backroom deals between certain nations were believed to be commonplace", according to the Times.
 
The Times article suggests that amateur boxing is more vulnerable to cheating. "Unlike the professional code, which scores on a round-by-round basis, five judges in amateur bouts press a button to score punches landed."
 
International Olympic Committee chairman Jacques Rogge has joined the calls for a thorough investigation, and demanded that the BBC shares its evidence.
 
Khodabakhsh came out swinging in a BBC interview, calling the allegation a "lie" but then appeared to cloud the issue by saying "you have no idea of what’s going on in boxing, or the type of dubious people that operate in boxing". ·