The International Boxing Association has provisionally suspended South Korea's national federation, putting the country's amateur fighters at risk of missing the upcoming Asian Games and the 2012 London Olympics.
The association, known as AIBA, said in a statement that it has decided to ''provisionally exclude the Korean Amateur Boxing Federation'' after its former president Yoo Jae-joon ''caused serious damage'' to the body's image and reputation.
Yoo ''manipulatively and intentionally'' disrupted AIBA's competition procedures and investigations and also bribed members for votes during elections, the statement said.
Yoo and the KABF refused orders of the AIBA and South Korea's Olympic Committee to disqualify Yoo and elect a new president, it said.
KABF has responded to the suspension with a letter asking for a ''dramatic change'' in its status with AIBA, referring to the disadvantage South Korean amateur boxers may suffer, Olympic Committee official Kim Jong-soo said Monday.
AIBA will hold an executive committee meeting on November 2 to discuss the KABF's ultimate fate, Kim said, but a resolution must be reached by the end of October in order for South Korean boxers to be able to compete at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, opening on Nov. 12.
Under AIBA's statutes, suspended federations are not eligible to send athletes to competitions abroad.
Yoo resigned from the post last week amid an ongoing dispute over his qualifications. The KOC had hoped his departure would ''improve relations with AIBA, normalize operations, and pose no difficulties for South Korean boxers in competing at international events.''
''I am hoping for the sake of our boxers, that this is just a scare and that this temporary membership suspension will be called off soon,'' said Oh In-seok, executive director at KABF.
The KABF will hold a board meeting on Tuesday to discuss possible responses, Oh said.
