The IOC wants boxing held in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but it can’t promise that it will be.
The International Olympic Committee wants boxing to be held at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. That much we know.
But IOC President Thomas Bach could not give an ironclad promise on Saturday that it will happen when the Olympics open in just over 20 months.
“We want to have the boxing tournament in the games in Tokyo and we will make all efforts to have it,” said Bach, who was asked several times about it on Saturday as the IOC closed two days of meetings in the Japanese capital.
Accusations of corruption and malfeasance surrounding the boxing federation that runs the sport at the Olympics have left the future of boxing up in the air.
The IOC on Friday initiated a formal inquiry into AIBA — an acronym for the International Boxing Association — and has given itself six months to work behind the scenes to solve a problem it’s been facing for a year.
“We also have received a request from the national boxing federation of Japan, pleading to have an Olympic boxing tournament,” Bach added. “We’re absolutely in line with this request.”
Bach didn’t say it, but there is speculation the IOC could run the event, using AIBA judges and referees. It seems unlikely a new body would be created from the ground up.
Or the tournament might not be staged at all, which is a long shot.
IOC member Nenad Lalovic of Serbia is heading the inquiry, a strong Bach ally and president of United World Wrestling — the Olympic wresting body.
IOC sports director Kit McConnell said the inquiry into AIBA was unprecedented.
