Boxing head tries to placate voters amid Olympic inquiry
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — The president of the amateur boxing association says the body has "finally and fully left the troubled past behind," despite being put under an International Olympic Committee inquiry.
AIBA president Gafur Rakhimov, who the U.S. Treasury Department says is a heroin trafficker linked to organized crime, has written to reassure national boxing federations about the governing body's future.
The IOC appointed an inquiry panel last week to examine AIBA's governance, finances and ethics.
AIBA is banned from contacting 2020 Tokyo Olympic organizers and risks being derecognized by the IOC.
In a letter Wednesday, the businessman from Uzbekistan told AIBA members his problem with American authorities is "based on false allegations by the previous regime of my country is being addressed."
