Sports

Rakhimov elected to run amateur boxing despite IOC criticism

03 of November 2018

Interim President of the International Boxing Association (AIBA) Gafur Rakhimov attends a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Nov.1, 2018. With boxing’s Olympic future on the line, one-time Olympic silver medalist from Kazakhstan, Serik Konakbayev, will fight to save his sport, running against Interim President Rakhimov, as candidates in the upcoming presidential vote Saturday Nov. 3, at AIBA, the amateur boxing federation. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin),Interim President of the International Boxing Association (AIBA) Gafur Rakhimov attends a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Nov.1, 2018. With boxing’s Olympic future on the line, one-time Olympic silver medalist from Kazakhstan, Serik Konakbayev, will fight to save his sport, running against Interim President Rakhimov, as candidates in the upcoming presidential vote Saturday Nov. 3, at AIBA, the amateur boxing federation. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

MOSCOW (AP) — An Uzbek businessman who has been accused of ties to organized crime was elected president of the amateur boxing federation on Saturday, putting the sport on a collision course with the International Olympic Committee.

The IOC criticized Gafur Rakhimov’s bid to become head of AIBA, and it has yet to confirm boxing is on the program for the 2020 Olympics. The IOC could host an Olympic boxing tournament without AIBA, cutting the financially troubled federation off from a key funding source.

Rakhimov beat his only challenger, former Kazakh boxer and politician Serik Konakbayev, with 86 votes out of 134 valid ballots cast.

Rakhimov is on a U.S. Treasury Department sanctions list for alleged links to organized crime and international heroin trafficking. The sanctions bar U.S. citizens and companies from doing business with him. He has denied wrongdoing.

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