The Price of an Olympic Quota, my story

[ogii3]

Hi guys,

I was very disappointed by the R/J at Vargas's qualification and decided to write an article and to make a deep research about the situation. I am not sure that it is possible to post a link here of my story that was posted at Fightnews or just to paste it here. But if you goodle "THe Price of an Olympic Quota" you will find it. There will be a follow up story, which reveals. I would like to hear your comment and if there is someone, who is ready to speak on the theme off or on the record, please feel free to PM me or to find me.

[yu265545]

Interesting article.

You are suggesting that the lower judges have an incentive to follow the scoring of the 5 star judge. But how do they know how the 5 star judge is scoring during the fight? Do they have access to the 5 star judge scores? What if the computer does not pick the 5 star judge.

For example, lets say the scoring for Ruenrueng/Brill was corrupt - how does the corruption work? How do the lower judges know that AIBA and the 5 star judge want Ruenrueng to win?

[ogii3]

Here is the article, I asked Mel for a permission to post here. Original is at fightnews



The Price of an Olympic Quota, Part I

By Ognian Georgiev

In the last few months, the International amateur boxing association (AIBA), made a revolutionary move to allow established professional fighters to fight at the Olympic Games. At first, many well known stars commented that they could think about it and possibly participate at Rio Olympics. The likes of Amir Khan, Wladimir Klitschko and Manny Pacquiao were positive about the opportunity. For this to happen, the AIBA made some changes in the qualification process, compared to the previous Olympics. They now included a final tournament where the final 26 Olympic quotas were kept available for professional boxers, fighters from APB (AIBA’s professional boxing competition) and WSB (World Series of Boxing).

The professional governing bodies around the world didn’t like AIBA’s initiative. The counter punch came right away with direct threats towards those, who decided to try their luck at the Olympic qualification. The IBF announced that they will put away from rankings the candidates for Olympic glory for a period of one year. The WBC’s ban was even more severe. Each Top 15 fighter who dared to participate in AIBA events, would not get a permission to fight in a world title fight or to be ranked for a period of two years.

These actions limited the number of boxers, who signed to fight at the last Olympic qualification. The tournament finished few days ago in Vargas, Venezuela. , with only a couple of well known pro fighters decided to have a go. Former WBA and WBO interim middleweight champ Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam and ex-IBF world flyweight champ Amnat Ruenroeng were the most recognizable professionals who entered into the tournament.

It was very important for AIBA to qualify those pro champs at Rio Olympics. They were like a prime example for all other established professionals, who could also jump ship.

“20 boxers from non AIBA ranks participated in Vargas and 3 qualified to go to Rio,” said the AIBA president Ching-kwo Wu. “The decision ratified by the National Federation delegates on June 1st was not Rio 2016 driven bearing in mind one of AIBA’s objective is to empower all its affiliated National Federations. Our mission is to ensure the long-term development of our sport and take into consideration boxers’ interest. We have just seen the first positive effects of this strategy here in Venezuela.

“The appeal of AIBA boxing competitions is undeniable. Since last September, we have staged 2 world championships, 6 Olympic qualifiers across the world, a full WSB Season VI and APB Championships events all over the world. We have provided the ideal and diverse sporting platform for boxers to thrive upon in terms of competitions, broadcasting and promotion whatever their objectives and their levels. AIBA competitions are watched around the world, our social media channels are very popular, the fan base is rapidly growing and Rio 2016 will evidently outline the unparalleled vitality of our sport.”

Both Hassan N’Dam NJikam and Ruenroeng qualified, but in a very different way. While the Cameroonian showed his class in the light heavyweight division (81 kg), the Thai fighter needed help to secure a quota in the lightweight (60 kg) division. Ruenroeng looked slow and out of form in all of his three fights, but he seemingly received huge help from “The Magnificent Seven.”

Don’t laugh, because in the coming lines you’ll learn more about the so-called Magnificent Seven and the way they became in some ways even more influential in Olympic boxing (the AIBA doesn’t like to use the word “amateur” anymore) than the president of the organization Dr. Ching-kwo Wu himself.

We will look back at the way Ruenroeng was helped to win his quota, but first let me tell you more about The Magnificent Seven. After the London Olympics in 2012, the AIBA was put under fire because of some ridiculous decisions. One of them was the infamous bout between Satoshi Shimizu (Japan) and Magomed Abdulhamidov (Azerbaijan). The Azeri fighter was put on the canvas six times, but the referee Ishanguly Meretnyyazov never issued a count. Abdulhamidov’s hand was raised, but later the decision was overturned by AIBA.

The AIBA decided to put more control in the hands of the referees and judges (R&J). In October 2012, they selected seven R&J, who were marked as 5-star R&J. Those officials were given full-time jobs by AIBA and their major task was to manage all the other R&Js.

“The selection process has been intensive and much more based on their ethics and capability of managing the ring than anything else,” said AIBA president Dr. Wu. So, this is how the group of The Magnificent Seven was formed. Its members were Michael Gallagher, Mariusz Gorny, Mik Basi, Rakhymzhan Rysbayev, Vladislav Malishev, Gerardo Poggi and Kheira Sidi Yakoub.

Those elite R&J have an extremely important role. They are always officiating in the most important events and more crucial – it’s up to them to decide the list of R&J, who is summoned from all parts of the world to work at the world championships, Olympic Games or qualifications. They are the main instructors of AIBA’s international judges and evaluate their colleagues during the tournaments. The Magnificent Seven was structured to be a clear example of independent and correct officiating.

But it turned out to be a different story.

The Vargas qualification has a very interesting history. For a long time the date and location of the tournament, which decided the last 26 boxers for Rio, had a status of TBA. It was rumored that Bahrain had intentions to pay for hosting the event, but at the end it was Venezuela’s government who paid a solid amount of money. According to our sources the fees for being a host at such important event is six-figures paid to AIBA.

Venezuela entered the competition with six boxers. Only one of them was with really high potential – Yoel Finol (49 kg). They ended up with four quotas, which is really high percentage. They also won four more from the previous qualification tournaments, which is all time record for the small South American country. (To compare they had a total of three representatives in London 2012, six in Beijing 2008 and seven in Athens 2004, four in Sydney 2000 and two in Atlanta 1996). In part two of our story we will make deeper analytics of an old Russian proverb “When you are at home even the walls help you.”

At the second day of Vargas tournament it was time for the big debut of a professional boxing star in Olympic qualification tournament. Amnat Ruenroeng put almost 10 kg above his usual fighting weight and went in the ring against talented German Artur Bril, a former world youth champion and youth Olympic champion.

Bril was very aggressive in the first two rounds, scoring a lot of clean shots, but he was behind 18:20 in all three scorecards. In the third, he went all out, but Ruenroeng was holding during the entire three minutes. In Olympic boxing, the referee must punish a boxer who is doing an excessive holding, but it was not the case with the third person in the ring, the only lady among The Magnificent Seven – Kheira Sidi Yakoub (Alg). In the end, Bril won the third round on the judges’ scorecards, but lost the bout with 28:29. An official warning in the third round for Ruenroeng could haven taken away a point from his score and the fight would been even. In that case, the judges must give their preference for one of the boxers.

“In my opinion, I won all the three rounds,” said Bril in an interview to Fightnews.com® two days after his fight. “I have never fought against such a dirty boxer. And the sad thing is he just ran away. I do not know what the judges saw in the fight. I was surprised.”

“I did a good job. All the people saw who the true winner was. Trainers and boxers from other countries came to me and said I never lost that fight. Boxing is not always fair. I can do nothing about it.”

Sad words by 24-year-old talent that had a dream to fight in the Olympics. Check out the fight yourself:

Let’s get back to the official scorecards. The current scoring system in Olympic boxing consists of five judges. A computer program decides which three of them will be selected and their scores will be counted at the end of the fight. In Bril – Ruenroeng one of the judges was Mik Basi (Gbr), another member of The Magnificent Seven. He gave 29:28 for the Thai fighter. The other two, with the same score were Jasurbek Kurbanov (Uzb) and Jones Silva Do Rosario (Braz). The scores of Jose Bonet-Ortiz (Puer) and Armando Carbonell (Col) weren’t put in consideration, because the computer didn’t select them. The system is not allowing to see a score by a judge, who is not selected among those, which result counts.

The referee and the judges were booed by the audience after the announcement of the decision.

Dr. Wu watched the fight, but he refused to comment on the scoring and refereeing. “Boxing is a sport which triggers a lot of passion and sometimes people tend to behave as fan and not as boxing expert. However, our scoring and referring are very clear and transparent and we will not comment on decisions made by our most experienced judges. AIBA will never interfere with the decision made by the judges,” he stated.

Later that day, the fans in the Jose Maria Vargas Dome once again showed their disagreement with the scoring. It was after the bout between Bulgarian Spas Genov and American Johnathan Esquivel in the 81 kg division. The winner of that fight was scheduled to fight Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam. The Bulgarian was a former silver medalist from European championships, unbeaten among professionals at ranked number two in the APB within his division.

Genov was dominating most of the fight, but lost with 1:2 judges calls. Here’s the interesting thing; four out of the six officials were the same that were appointed at Bril-Ruenroeng fight: Jasurbek Kurbanov, Armando Carbonell, Mik Basi and Kehira Sidi Yakoub. The referee was the official from Vietnam Trong Vuong, who often has ridiculous scoring. The last judge was Dexing Wang, the only one that gave the fight to Genov 30:27. Carbonell’s score was 30:27 for Esquivel, while Kurbanov gave 29:28 (his first two rounds were for American, so the third one, scored for Genov, was not so important).

These two bouts were by far the most controversial during the entire qualification. There were a few more that were close, but were given to the right person. What are the chances to have four out of six officials, from a total of 30 R&J that worked the tournament, to work the same strange bouts? Here is the explanation.

Fightnews.com® spoke with two AIBA international judges with very good insight about how the leadership of The Magnificent Seven works. We will show here just part of their information in order to keep their anonymity.

“5-star referees decide everything”, said our first source, who has been officiating for years mainly in Asian tournaments. “If you don’t go by their way, then you will never receive an appointment for an international tournament and they are making sure to tell you that with direct words. In fact, they are really good R&Js, probably the best in the world. So they know how to act in favor of one of the fighters, when he needs some help.”

Our second source, who is from Western Europe, told us that each R&J, who is appointed for a AIBA international event, receives $50 a day for his work. His travel ticket and accommodation with 3-time-a-day meal are also covered.

“Some of the judges love to travel and for them $50 a day is nice money. They know that if they didn’t follow the 5-star referee they will never see another event. Every one of us is dreaming to officiate in the Olympics. It’s like being a boxer and fighting under the five rings. This is why some of my colleagues are ready to help. To be fair, probably 10-15 of the R&J at each competition are neutral. You may find them when you see the scoring at the controversial fights.”

AIBA’s response on those accusations?

“We do not want to comment rumors”, said the AIBA president Dr. Wu. “Approximately 60 matches took place during the APB/WSB Olympic Qualification tournament and all participants including the boxers praised the quality and fairness of the event.”

The last and probably the most important part of the puzzle that makes The Magnificent Seven so powerful is so called Draw Commission. It consists of several International technical officials (ITO), who got the duty to select and control the names of R&J for each bout during the daily schedule.

“There are two ways of doing that, the first one is by using a computer draw, but often is made manually, because of some conflicts between judges and boxers, who are from the same country or continent. Theoretically, to influence the outcome of a bout, you need to have on your side four out of five judges to be sure that the computer will select at least two of them”, said an AIBA R/J.

According to our source, there was a very close personal relation between one of The Magnificent Seven and an ITO, who was working at the Vargas qualification. At this moment we will not mention the names, but it is another problem.

Almost four years ago, president Wu promised the following: “We will seek to add more 5-Star R&Js to enhance our transparent culture of judging in all AIBA, APB and WSB competitions.”

We asked Dr. Wu why the 5-star referees are still the same since their appointment in 2012 and their 7-person closed group never increases its members?

“To become a “5 star” referee implies a lot of commitment and training. For the last 12 months, we have conducted numerous training classes all over the world to increase the number of our referees. Our responsibility is mainly to ensure that the most experienced referees are appointed during our top events. Unfortunately, you cannot build experience in a short period of time but the number of “2 and 3 star” referees are growing and we are very confident the number of 5 star referees will grow too in the near future,” explained Dr. Wu.

The Magnificent Seven are still riding together in the Olympic boxing world and is controlling everything around scoring the bouts.

In the part two of this series, The price of an Olympic Quota, we ‘ll tell you more about the competition draw and how three of the six Venezuela’s fighters got so lucky that they went directly to the semifinal of the event without fighting.

[ogii3]

Interesting article.

You are suggesting that the lower judges have an incentive to follow the scoring of the 5 star judge. But how do they know how the 5 star judge is scoring during the fight? Do they have access to the 5 star judge scores? What if the computer does not pick the 5 star judge.

For example, lets say the scoring for Ruenrueng/Brill was corrupt - how does the corruption work? How do the lower judges know that AIBA and the 5 star judge want Ruenrueng to win?

All the judges are staying in one hotel during big competition. The hotel is different from the one of the fighters. So they are all alone, just R&J and sometimes ITO's.

Answer to your first question: There are many ways to show in advance or few minutes before the bout when the blessed fighter must receive some help.
Second question: They don't have access, they know in advance or few minutes before the bout to who they must help, according to my sources
Third question: It's not always the computer who picks 5-star judge, often it's made manually by Draw commission, that is consisted by ITO's
Corruption? Well, how the corruption is working? Money, influence, future appointments or going up the ladder. It's great that you are asking that.
Fifth Question: Same as second question.

Here I must add once again the three more important roles of 5-star judges. Those things explain why they are so powerful.

1. They are selecting the list f R&J who are going to work in big competition
2. They are evaluating R&J in big competition and they are the guys who are giving stars to novice judges so they are capable to seduce them earlier in their career.
3. Every R&J wants and dreams to work in Olympics. But the places there are limited. Guess who is deciding who will work at Rio Games?

You will see in part two some more interesting facts.
It's great that you are asking the questions.

[ogii3]

Interesting article.

You are suggesting that the lower judges have an incentive to follow the scoring of the 5 star judge. But how do they know how the 5 star judge is scoring during the fight? Do they have access to the 5 star judge scores? What if the computer does not pick the 5 star judge.

For example, lets say the scoring for Ruenrueng/Brill was corrupt - how does the corruption work? How do the lower judges know that AIBA and the 5 star judge want Ruenrueng to win?

What is your opinion on scoring and referring of Ruenroeng/Bril fight?
If you were a referee at this match would you warn officially Ruenroeng or DQ him?

[yu265545]

Interesting article.

You are suggesting that the lower judges have an incentive to follow the scoring of the 5 star judge. But how do they know how the 5 star judge is scoring during the fight? Do they have access to the 5 star judge scores? What if the computer does not pick the 5 star judge.

For example, lets say the scoring for Ruenrueng/Brill was corrupt - how does the corruption work? How do the lower judges know that AIBA and the 5 star judge want Ruenrueng to win?

What is your opinion on scoring and referring of Ruenroeng/Bril fight?
If you were a referee at this match would you warn officially Ruenroeng or DQ him?

I just watched the fight. The first round should definitely have gone to Bril as he landed more punches and his punches were of good quality. He even knocked Ruenreng down but it was ruled a slip.

The second round was close but that was because Ruenreng was holding anytime they got close. Neither fighter could really land anything because of all the holding and grappling by Ruenreng. I would also score this for Bril

Third round more holding and grappling - I would score it for Bril .

3:0 for Bril in my opinion. Ruenreng should definitely have been warned for the holding.

[ogii3]

Here is Part II





In the first part of our story about the Olympic qualification in Vargas, Venezuela, we told you how the group of The Magnificent Seven is controlling the way of scoring in the bouts. We showed you some examples of questionable officiating by the best R&J in the Olympic boxing. Now it’s time to take a look how the boxers from the home country managed to win four more Olympic quotas from only six participants.

Venezuela was selected as a host of the final qualification for Rio Games just a month before the start of the tournament. According to our sources the price for an event like that is around $500,000. For this fee, the host doesn’t receive full rights over TV broadcasting sales. During the six day event, with actually five fight days (one of which had only three bouts) there were many empty seats in the hall and admission was even advertised as free. There weren’t any major logo sponsors in the ring, so what is the payback for such a large outlay of money?

Fightnews.com® reached out to Fran Lopez, the head of Venezuela’s boxing federation, although very active on the social networks, we never received a response.

The team of the South American country consisted of six fighters: Angelino Cordova (49 kg), Yoel Rivas (52 kg), Victor Rodriguez (56 kg), Entry Pinto (75 kg), Alfonso Flores (91 kg) and Edgar Mata (+91 kg).

Rivas was the star of the six-pack, he won the Pan-American championships last year at the same venue. The most experienced was Edgar Mata, a 32-year-old veteran who participated at Athens Olympics in 81 kg division, but recently his success was very limited. He was KO’d in the first round of last year’s World championships and lost in the first round at the Olympic Qualification in Buenos Aires. The third established fighter was Endry Pinto, a semifinalist from Pan-American Games 2015.

Since the previous Olympic cycle, the AIBA decided to seed the top ranked fighters in each division in order to avoid earlier clashes among favorites on big competitions. The organization has strict rules how to decide who deserves to be seeded for its competitions, but not for the kind of tournament that draws professionals, APB (AIBA professional boxing) boxers and WSB (World Series of Boxing) fighters into one place.

When the draws for the Vargas qualification were published, they were very confusing. Some of the divisions had seeded fighters. For example at 81kg category the biggest professional star at the tournament Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam received the second-seeded spot. The first spot surprisingly went to another professional, 40-year-old Ladislav Kutil (19-4, 5 KO), who was KO’d twice in a row in his most recent fights by Lubos Suda (34-11-1, 25 KO) and had only two fights in the last four years.

Another surprise was in the +91 kg division. One of the biggest amateur boxing stars, Magomed Omarov (Rus), also received seed number two. The former European champ with 5 wins and 1 loss at APB went to a hardcore part of the draw with fighters like Rostyslav Arkhypenko (Ukr), who had a win over the current world champion Tony Yoka. The other top names in Omarov’s part of the draw were Brandon Lynch (USA), Haipeng Mu (CHI) and Algerian Newfel Ouatah (14-1, 8 KO).

Venezuelan super heavyweight Edgar Mata was seeded as number one in the draw. He started directly from the quarterfinal and had opponents from Egypt and Brazil before reaching the final. In the super heavyweight division (+91 kg), there was only one quota for Rio and it was the overall winner of the bracket who eventually would take it. At the end of the day Mata beat Arkhypenko, who was already battered from his previous three tough bouts (he overcame Lynch, Omarov and Mu). The scoring of the match was 29:28 for the Venezuelan and this bout could also be put among the strange bouts of the tournament.

If you read part 1 of the story, you could probably remember the pure coincidence that four out of six officials were part of the two of the most controversial bouts. Probably you will not be surprised to see that two of The Magnificent Seven – Mik Basi and Kheira Sidi Yakoub were part of the scoring team along with the judge from Vietnam Trong Vuong. The referee was another member of The Magnificent Seven, Michael Gallagher. We add here the names of Udeni Kiridena (Sri) and Clemente Carillo (Ecu), the other two scoring judges.

“I don’t know if they helped him in the draw, but in my part there were really strong fighters from the USA and Russia,” Rostyslav Arkhypenko told Fightnews.com®. “In the final fight I was very tired, because I had three tough bouts. During the fight, I was feeling that I was winning, but I wasn’t confident that they would raise my hand. My opinion is that I won and the judges gave an undeserved victory to the local boxer.”

19-year-old flyweight Yoel Finol (52 kg) has the achievements to be seeded number one. No doubt about that, and this is the reason that he was put in that place.

We saw that in some weight divisions the organizers put seeded fighters, but in some others there were no seeded positions. The process was selective. If there aren’t seeded fighters, all the competitors must have equal chances to be at the easier part of the draw or be lucky enough to start directly from the semifinal. But the case with Venezuelan fighters was not the same.

“Swiss timing is the official scoring partner of AIBA and is responsible of the drawing too,” commented AIBA president Dr. Wu on the lucky draw positions of Venezuelan fighters. “Everything is electronically operated by their staff on site and we cannot influence the draw. FYI, Swiss Timing is part of Swatch group with some of its brands with high reputation and associated with major events including the Olympics. All participants including the boxers praised the quality and fairness of the event.”

Bantamweight Victor Rodriguez (56 kg), was one of the lucky fighters. He went directly to the semifinal and needed just one win to receive one of the three Olympic quotas that were distributed in their weight divisions. Even with a loss in his first fight, he received a second chance and used it by the best possible way. He beat Ibrahim Gokcek (Tur) in a close fight despite the fact that he heard the 8-count for a knockdown in the third round. Two of the three judges gave 29:28 for Rodriguez, while Dexin Wang from China scored it 28:28, because he gave the third round 10:8 to Gokcek. Here are the officials of that fight: 3 members of The Magnificent Seven – the referee Vladislav Malyshev, Mik Basi, Gerardo Poggi, Vietnamese Trong Vuong and Udeni Kiridena (Sri). Kiridena, Trong and Basi were also part of the scoring team for another close home country victory by Edgar Mata (+91 kg) in the final versus Rostyslav Arkhypenko. Just to remind you that a total number of 30 R&J worked the event.

Heavyweight Alfonso Flores (91 kg) is another of the lucky Venezuelan fighters. He went directly to the semifinal and the real statistical chance for that in a 6-participants bracelet is exactly 33%. He lost his semifinal bout against Marko Calic, but in the heavyweight division there was only one quota to be given. However, guess who was appointed to score the fight? Mik Basi was the referee, 5-star Vladislav Malishev, Vietnamese Trong Vuong, Udeni Kiridena (Sri), Dexin Wang and Frank Fiacco. This time Calic was too good and didn’t give any chance to the host country fighter, who knew that it will be almost impossible to beat the experienced top fighter at the tournament Julio Castillo, who later won the tournament and booked his place for Rio.

Finally, we will make an analysis of middleweight Endry Pinto (75 kg). He started with a win over Arman Hakobyan in another close fight. Imagine who were the officials? Referee Mik Basi, judges Jasurbek Kurbanov (Uzb), Udeni Kiridena (Sri), Vietnamese Trong Vuong, Jones Silva do Rosario and 5-star Mariusz Gorni. Jones Silva do Rosario and Kurbanov scored one of the other controversial fights Spas Genov-Johnatan Esiquiel (you may watch it in Part 1). Trong Vuong even gave 10:8 first round for Pinto against Hakobyan.

In the semifinal Pinto went to fight for an Olympic quota in a direct clash against Xhek Paskali (Ger). The Venezuelan did it with 29:28 unanimous decision. Check out the guys, who scored the bout: Udeni Kiridna (Sri), Jones Silva do Rosario (Bra), 5-star Rakhymzhan Rysbayev (Kaz), 5-star Kheira Sidi Yakoub (Alg) and Daniel McFarlane (Eng). The referee was Jasurbek Kurbanov (Uzb)! We’ve got three of the same R&J from previous Pinto fight alone with two of The Magnificent Seven.

Let’s make a summary of all the fights with Venezuelan fighters. A total of 12 bouts with home boxers have been held in Vargas. Mik Basi, one of The Magnificent Seven, officiated 7 of those matches!

Vietnamese Trong Vuong and Udeni Kiridina did 6 each. Jasurbek Kurbanov, Dexin Wang and 5-star Malishev – five each. 3 of the appointed R&J for the tournament never saw their names in the draw for a Venezuelan fight. 7 of the R&J did only one bout of the home country fighters.

In the third and final part of our story The Price of an Olympic Quota, we will introduce to you the former vice-president of AIBA Rudel Obreja, an ex-Olympian himself, who was the technical delegate of Beijing Olympics 2008. Eight years ago he held a surprise press conference during the Olympic tournament where he discussed how he witnessed the corruption first hand. In an exclusive interview, Obreja tells how much the Olympic medal costs, how many of the bouts at the Beijing Olympics were corrupted and what the scheme is to fix the right R/J for a bout.

[donnellon]

Add in the strange case of Armenia’s Hovhannes Bachkov who won the 64 kg event despite not even been eligible for the WSB/APB box-offs?

[ogii3]

Add in the strange case of Armenia’s Hovhannes Bachkov who won the 64 kg event despite not even been eligible for the WSB/APB box-offs?

This will be a part of my next articles. It was very strange how they decided who is eligible to participate at Continental or European championships, World qualifier in Baku from APB/WSB fightеrs, there is not clear rules for that

[mike222]

I fear you are fighting a losing battle but I do admire you for it.I have taken the Football Association to task in the past but eventually they just put the shutters up and cease communication.

[ogii3]

I fear you are fighting a losing battle but I do admire you for it.I have taken the Football Association to task in the past but eventually they just put the shutters up and cease communication.

There are many boxers, trainers, national federations, fans etc who are suffering from that unfairness. Most of them are talking between them, whispering in the training hall or just shaking heads after the consecutive screwing. If those guys see a sign that someone cares about the injustice, they may raise their arms and contact me.

I am optimistic, because nobody believed that Andrew Jennings is capable to hurt FIFA or Hajo Seppelt to put on the knees IAAF's high officials and the doping mafia in track and field, but those guys did it. I am far away from doing that, because currently AIBA is not so rotten as FIFA or IAAF, but Wu must clean the house and to put away the last traces and doubts of corruption.

[JMac]

I want to know who picked the five stars? Was it Wu or the R/J commission chair Bisbal and vice chair Silvas? Bisbal is from Argentina and they have a 5 star. Silvas is from the USA and they don't have a 5 star. Guess which country does not have an official going to Rio? USA and I can you that i feel USA has some of the best and most honest R/J's. Of course I am biased as I from the US but I can not believe that they will not have a R/J in Rio. I would bet that Russia, Cuba, Italy, Team GB and Kazakhstan will have a R/J there.
I remember you Ogii from '08 and I like that you take AIBA to task. Nobody liked what Chaudhdry did for amateur boxing and many thought Wu would make good changes. He has made changes but for many things they are not good. Keep up the fight.

[ogii3]

JMac,

Be sure that The Magnificent Seven will work in Rio. The USA R&J who worked in world championships Shawn Reese was on the wrong side of verdicts against the clique. So probably his marks aren't so good and this may be used as a reason for not including him at the Olympics R&J list. I hope that I am wrong, because many of the honest R&J who are not into the Game will be left out.

I've got a hint who and how were picked 5-star judges, but for know I can't say it, because it may hurt someone and it is very delicate. Just remember that the new scoring system was introduced at the same time, when 5-star judges were appointed and started to teach all the others R&J around the world.

[JMac]

JMac,

Be sure that The Magnificent Seven will work in Rio. The USA R&J who worked in world championships Shawn Reese was on the wrong side of verdicts against the clique. So probably his marks aren't so good and this may be used as a reason for not including him at the Olympics R&J list. I hope that I am wrong, because many of the honest R&J who are not into the Game will be left out.

I've got a hint who and how were picked 5-star judges, but for know I can't say it, because it may hurt someone and it is very delicate. Just remember that the new scoring system was introduced at the same time, when 5-star judges were appointed and started to teach all the others R&J around the world.

Interesting.... Shawn Reese is a very good R/J and one of the most honest and decent people I know. I saw the corruption during the Beijing Olympics and it does not surprise me that it is still there despite what Wu says about transparency. What is truly sad is that there are people and countries that would rob an athlete who worked their entire life for such a moment of a medal because they are not from the right country.

I just read your part 3 article at http://www.fightnews.com/Boxing/the-pri ... ore-347200 Rudel Obreja and i used to talk about the election leading up to '06 AIBA election and how we need to get rid of corruption and Chaudhry. I know he was a big supporter of Wu as was USA. I agree with Rudy that the good changes did not necessarily happen and Ho Kim was bad news. I saw the crossed out names when they would come into the room where the officials had tho stay all day during the boxing. It was definitely Ho Kim who made the changes.
I remember how different countries would try to find out if they could corrupt you and as Rudy said it was mostly eastern Europe and Asian countries that would try. Shawn Reese and the 2 other very good USA R/J's that are good enough to work the Rio Olympics are not the kind that would take bribes so I guess now they just eliminate them from the Olympics all together. Very sad.

[JMac]

What is really sad is that during Beijing Olympics, the scoring system turned amateur boxing into the most boring sport. I wrote afterwards that if they don't change the system, they should get rid of boxing in the Olympics. Now they have changed the system and we are seeing exciting boxing again. That's the good news. The bad news is that despite what Wu says about transparency corruption seems to still exist. I know that during the continental qualifier held in Venezuela there were really bad decisions. The host country got a lot of gift decisions. That is a common theme with boxing that host country always get favorable decision at any tournament.
At the time i asked why did AIBA have a tournament in a country that is very unstable right now. The officials were told not to walk outside the competition venue or hotel for fear of being kidnapped. The people are close to overthrowing the government. There is not enough food for the people and high crime. So AIBA goes back for another tournament which was the last qualifier for the Olympics. Why? Money? Couldn't AIBA find a safer country?

[ogii3]

I just heard that there is huge social crisis in Venezuela, because of the low price of petrol, and that the people are suffering. It's strange how they put all the money to organize the event. Adding to that the warnings for the officials and delegations...
The biggest problem is the planing of these Olympic qualifications. For every boxer/coach a fixed date for an important event is very important in order to plan the preparation process. European qualification in Samsun's dates also were changed at the last moment. This is not correct and it speaks a lot about the lack of planing and organisation.

For example in tennis, football or track&field you know the calendar at least one year, sometimes more before the events.

[ogii3]

AIBA statement on the articles (http://www.fightnews.com/Boxing/the-pri ... ore-347842):


AIBA has taken note of the series of articles published by Mr Georgiev in Fightnews.com® and wishes to respond to some of the points raised and clarify some of the claims made. Indeed, the reduction of the R&J community as referred to in your story does not reflect the reality. AIBA has more than 1500 registered AIBA certified referees and judges ranging from 1 star to 5 star certification. In general 1 and 2 star R&J’s are appointed at national level and around 300 3 star and above are used yearly at elite competitions on a regular basis. This certification process, within which each R&J evolves, ensures that all our R&Js have the highest levels of officiating and are in optimal situation to perform accordingly. In addition, R&J’s have systematic debriefings of their bouts, are continuously evaluated and have access to numerous seminars throughout the year.

Concerning the interview of Mr Obreja in part 3, firstly, we would like to underline that Mr Obreja has held no duties at AIBA since 2008, and hence all the claims made in the interview in July 2016 date back 10 years and were dealt with by AIBA at the time. In detail, Mr Obreja was suspended by the Disciplinary Commission following false allegations against AIBA and AIBA representatives at the Beijing Olympics, amounting to libel and defamation. Disciplinary sanctions were imposed and ultimately on appeal to the CAS the suspension imposed on Mr. Obreja was upheld if reduced thus confirming AIBA stance that these claims were foundless. No evidence of wrong doing has been produced by Mr. Obreja in respect of his allegations.

AIBA has continuously sought to evolve the sport of boxing, always acting in the boxers’ utmost interest. We are continuously innovating and keep boxing at the forefront of the sporting world, whether it be, gender equality by pushing for more women’s boxing at Olympic Games level, or the recent launch of Professional competitions such as WSB and APB in order to create a full pathway to our boxers. The IOC green light on headguard removal decision is a symbol of this dynamism as well as the Pro eligibility for the forthcoming Olympic Games. We are also committed to a doping-free sport and support the policy for in- and out-of- competition testing in compliance with the WADA code. The future of AIBA boxing is bright and the organization will not be deterred by subjective judgements made by discontented parties which do not reflect the AIBA community as a whole.

[ogii3]

The noise around the officiating in the last Olympic qualification in Vargas, Venezuela, poses a lot of questions. The best person to answer is AIBA president Ching-Kwo Wu. A former basketball player, who had worked as an architect, Wu was elected as a president of International Boxing Association (AIBA) on 6 November 2006. He replaced long time boss of the organization Anwar Chowdhry, who was regarded as one of the most controversial Olympic sports officials of all time.

69-year-old Wu came with high hopes and he made several very important changes in Olympic boxing. During his decade-long reign he changed the scoring system from electronic points scoring to manual 10-points system per round. Wu’s executive team introduced in 2010 World Series of Boxing and in 2014 AIBA Professional boxing. One of the most important innovations was the removing of headguard. Now, in Rio, the boxers will fight without head protection for the first time at the Olympic Games since Los Angeles Games in 1984.

We already put some of Wu’s quotes regarding the participation of professional boxers in The Olympics, the power of 5-star referees and judges, and the strange draws that gave an advantage to Venezuelan fighters in Vargas.

Here are some of the other interesting topics that the AIBA president discussed asnwering our questions.

Dr. Wu, would you tell us more about the selection of Vargas as the host of the final Olympic qualification? Were there more candidates and what was the fee that Venezuela paid to AIBA in order to receive the rights to host the event?

The host city was selected by a normal bidding process and a host fee was paid as is usually the case for all sports events organizations across the world. An International Tournament of this level brings hundreds of people to the country and consequently generates revenue streams for the local economy, from TV rights, local sponsorships and partnerships, hotel accommodation and transport etc. Moreover, Boxing is one of the most popular sport in Venezuela and the National Federation has previously organized many major boxing events outlining its strong experience.

Armenian Hovhannes Bachkov won an Olympic quota in Vargas qualification, which was for APB/WSB and pro boxers. Bachkov never participated in APB/WSB, never participated in pro boxing matches under his name. How he did he become eligible to fight in Vargas?

The Armenian National Federation sent a letter to AIBA before the Baku qualifier, asking if they could have a derogation to participate in Vargas instead, in view of the existing conflict between the two countries – Armenia and Azerbaijan –. This particular situation has big geopolitical consequences in the region so AIBA and the Eligibility Commission studied the case and decided that it was the best decision to allow Bachkov to box in Vargas rather than go to the Baku tournament.

Are you aware that one of the 5-star referees is in personal relationship with an International Technical Official (ITO), member of the Draw Commission (the commission that controls the selection of R&J for each bout) in Vargas qualification, and do you think that this is fair?

We do not appoint referees or ITOs based on personal criteria but on their experience and their capacity to fulfill their duties.

What is the future of AIBA Professional Boxing (APB)? Why there aren’t scheduled bouts among different divisions in order for the champions to defend their titles? When the next APB cycle will start?

APB is a new competition AIBA has launched in 2014 and we have been able to organize 10 World Championships in 10 weight categories last September. This competition provides a clear and transparent professional pathway for all boxers and has given them the opportunity to qualify for Rio 2016. Now, it is normal to give them the best chance to prepare and perform accordingly for this major milestone. After the Olympics, APB will pursue its development and plan to organize high level boxing events featuring the best boxers.

AIBA never announced what was the reason of the dismissing of Ho Kim last year? He was your “right hand” for many years starting with the pre-election process in 2006.

Changes in senior management are a frequent occurrence in all organizations. The crucial point is to ensure the long term development of our sport for the benefits of our National Federations affiliated and the boxers.

Do you plan some major changes in Olympic boxing after Rio Olympics?

Since the successful introduction of women’s boxing in London 2012, we have continuously tried to innovate and ensure the long term development of our sport: WSB growth, the launch of APB, the removal of headguards, the possibility given to all boxers to participate to the Olympic Games outline our commitment to put boxers’ interest first. AIBA is celebrating its 70th year in 2016 and we constantly strive to develop our sport and we are currently working on new projects to be launched after the Olympic Games.

Check out the previous reports in the series:

Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV

In the next part of our series, we’ll show you how AIBA’s anti-doping control is on the lowest level compared to other Olympic sports federations and how professional fighters that came to fight in Vargas had a huge advantage over regular Olympic boxing competitors in terms of anti-doping control.

[Rian016]

On the topic of Bachkov not being eligible for the qualifier, a similar thing happened in Baku. Shavkat Rakhimov is a pro boxer from Tajikistan who fought in the 2012 Olympics. He went pro last year and is 5-0, fighting professionally as recently as May yet he fought in the World qualifying tournament in Baku last month, which wasn't open to pros. He ended up not qualifying but somehow he was allowed to participate

[ogii3]

Rian,

Maybe Tajikistan is due to declare a war to Venezuela. Or simply nobody cares if you are pro or am anymore in AIBA. I remember the times when Ruslan Chagaev's world title from Bucharest in 1997 was taken, because he made two pro fights.

[ogii3]

The Price of an Olympic Quota, Part VI

In the previous parts of our series, we showed you different pieces of Olympic boxing’s world. In this article you’ll see how AIBA handles past and current doping issues. The recent doping problems with Russian athletes became the headline of all major sports news around the world. An investigation, started by the German journalist Hajo Seppel in 2014, shook the entire Olympic community when his reports showed how systematic doping practices were used in Russia.

The domino effect hit the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF), which was proven to hide positive doping cases and even blackmail athletes for covering the usage of prohibited substances.

In the recent months, the AIBA came under serious criticism over their anti-doping program. Many articles said they didn’t give enough attention of the problem. An investigation by Private Eye magazine showed that AIBA didn’t make a single out-of-competition test for 2015. A report by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), after officials came to investigate the headquarters of AIBA in December, described the level of out-of-competition testing as “almost non-existent.”

While we’re waiting for the official WADA statistical figures for 2015, let’s check the numbers from 2014 report. The information usually is posted in the summer of each year and shows how many tests were made by each Olympic sport and how many doping offenders were caught in the previous year.

A total of 4,258 tests were made in Olympic boxing by different anti-doping authorities. 1,923 of them were out of competition and the positive doping cases are 55. For the same 12 month period, the number of taken samples in professional boxing was 636 (185 out-of-competition) with 16 positive cases.

The anti-doping tests, ordered by AIBA, were just 175. Only 3 of them were out-of-competition. The positive cases were 2. At the same time, the National Anti Doping Agency of India ordered a total of 468 doping tests for boxers (256 out-of-competition). Almost three times more than the governing body of the Olympic boxing.

Let’s make another parallel. For 2014, United World Wrestling, the governing body of Olympic wrestling, made 876 tests (116 out of competition). The International weightlifting federation ordered just by itself 1,821 tests (789 out of competition). You see the difference, compared to AIBA.

“For the last 12 months we have managed several governance reforms, especially in the anti-doping field. Moreover, we have no reference of the 4,210 samples in boxing, however our current in and out competitions program is fully compliant with WADA requirements,” was the official position of the AIBA regarding the difference.

The reason we went down to the numbers from WADA’s 2014 report is because this was the beginning of “The Road to Rio” qualification events. For the first time in history, Olympic boxing qualifications included not only the classical form of tournaments to determine the quota winners, but also two new formats – World Series of Boxing (WSB) and AIBA Professional boxing (APB).

The fifth season of WSB became an official qualification event for Rio Olympics. Starting from January 15, 2015 to June 13, 2015, 17 quotas were distributed for the best competitors according to the Individual World Rankings of WSB. The selection process of each team started in 2014, when only two tests were made for WSB fight nights.

We are still waiting for WADA’s official report to check the number of WSB tests that occurred in 2015, but according to our sources, the stats are pretty alarming.

APB’s qualification process started from October 24, 2014 and ended on September 19, 2015. According to WADA’s stats for 2014 there isn’t a single mention of APB.

“There were 28 in competitions tests carried out in APB 2014”, specified AIBA via the PR department of the organization, without explaining why WADA never mentioned APB competition in their report, while at the same time they specified the number of doping samples taken from WSB.

According to qualifying criteria, the first two places in the APB rankings in each weight division received Olympic quotas.

* * *

We will focus our attention on Turkish fighter Adem Kilicci (75 kg). He’s a well known name in Olympic boxing. The veteran won a bronze medal at the World Amateur Championships in Chicago 2007 and silver from European championships in Ankara 2011. Kilicci fought twice in the Olympic Games, in Beijing ’08 and in London ’12, and was selected to participate in the first cycle of APB.

The Turkish boxer showed good form at the end of 2014. He won three out of three bouts in November and December. Thanks to his three wins, Kilicci topped the rankings and went to fight in Istanbul for APB’s world title against Artem Chebotarev (RUS). The referee for this fight was one of the main heroes from our previous articles Mik Basi, but this time he isn’t the main spotlight. Kilicci won by decision on January 23.

On May 8, AIBA executed in reality the most used word by their president Dr. Ching-Kwo Wu – “transparency.” They published the news that Adem Kilicci was caught doping in the fight against Chebotarev, three and a half months after the bout occurred.

“The 28-year-old boxer tested positive for tamoxifen following the analysis of a urine sample collected in accordance with the AIBA Anti-Doping Rules and the World Anti–Doping Code. The Boxer and the Turkish Boxing Federation have been notified about the findings. The matter is being dealt with in accordance with the AIBA Anti-Doping Rules,” said the statement.

The Turkish press also mentioned the positive case.

“It seems very likely that Kilicci is facing a minimum of two years doping ban,” said the national newspaper Sabah in an article regarding the positive doping case. The edition added also that Kilicci’s Olympic quota will be taken away.

According to the reports, Kilicci took tamoxifen because of chest pain. The illegal substance often is used for breast cancer treatment.

For the same usage of tamoxifen, USA national female team baseball player Tara Harbert was banned for eight years in 2015. Slovakian swimmer Lubos Krizko received a 24 month suspension in 2011.

Kilicci’s case became dead and hidden. There isn’t any info about his ban, neither at the “transparent” organization of Ching-Kwo Wu, neither in the Turkish press, not even into CAS, where usually athletes are trying their last chance in removing a doping suspension.

The Turkish veteran surprisingly appeared into an official document from the AIBA, dated December 5, 2015. There he was mentioned as an athlete who qualified for the Olympics. So, less than 10 months after his positive doping case, Kilicci showed up out of nowhere. But this was just the start. Kilicci returned to competition with a rematch against Artem Chebotarev on February 6, 2016, for the APB World title.

In the article published on the official website of the APB, the doping offender was described as “The experienced Kilicci was unbeaten in 2015, and will be looking to continue his strong run in 2016.” Not a word about his doping case. Not a word that his unbeaten score in 2015 consisted of just one fight, in which he gave a positive doping case.

Kilicci was knocked out in the tenth round of that fight, despite leading on the judges’ scorecards. This was the final bout of Kilicci, who was still a Rio Olympian until June 2016. 18 months had passed since his last win, but his name was on the AIBA list as a boxer who won a quota.

On June 2, came the news that Adem Kilicci’s retested sample from London Olympics in 2012 was positive for an anabolic steroid. Two weeks later came the confirmation from the AIBA that Kilicci wouldn’t fight in the Rio Olympics. His place was taken by Ukrainian Dmytro Mytrofanov, who was after Kilicci and Chebotarev in the APB rankings.

Speaking of the rankings, if you open the APB’s official webpage, Adem Kilicci is still on the #1 spot in the 75 kg division.

kilicci

During the time when Kilicci’s positive doping sample from London was announced, the AIBA took the decision to allow professional fighters to compete in the last Olympic qualification in Vargas. 20 boxers from the pro ranks went to Venezuela and three of them won quotas.

Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam (81 kg), Carmine Tommasone (60 kg) and Amnat Ruenroeng (60 kg) will fight in Rio. We already told you in part I of our story how Ruenroeng managed to win his quota with some controversial scoring and refereeing.

Most of the professional fighters who went to Vargas were tested for the first time by AIBA or other anti-doping authorities in Venezuela. They received the right to participate in the qualification just a month prior to the event and two months before the Rio Olympics.

Compared to these pros, most of the other athletes, who are seasoned competitors at AIBA events, were controlled for many years from their national anti-doping authorities, WADA or during AIBA tournaments. Hardly fair for them, taking in account the fact that professional boxing rarely has out-of-competition testing, while, as we mentioned earlier, the National anti-doping authorities are paying special attention to all Olympic sports athletes.

“AIBA has conducted 19 pre-competition tests on blood and urine with specific analyses on ESA, GHRF, GH biomarkers and GH Isoforms in accordance with TDSSA requirements on the pro-boxers who participated in the APB/WSB Qualifying Event – Vargas 2016 soon after their arrival in Venezuela,” explained the AIBA. “Those who qualified have been tested again after the day of the finals. Pro-boxers qualified for Rio have been automatically included in the AIBA RTP for OOC tests before going to Rio with full screening. Therefore, a special testing program has been tailored for the pro-boxers qualified for Rio including pre-competition, in-competition and out-of-competition tests. Given the short time available, AIBA did the utmost to ensure that only clean athletes will go to Rio.”

* * *

Fightnews.com® got a chance to speak with Carmine Tommasone, who is a really nice fellow. The unbeaten pro (15-0, 4 KOs) was standing by because his compatriot Domenico Valentino fought in the World Olympic qualification in Baku just 10 days before the start of Vargas event.

“I am a person, who always trains 365 days per year,” said Tommasone. “They called me very late, but how would you say no to participation in the Olympic qualification tournament?”

“The anti-doping rules are strict and, in fact, I have already done three anti-doping tests. I think this is right for the sport in general.”

Tommasone is facing a ban from the WBC and IBF. Both organizations announced they would suspend every pro fighter who entered into AIBA event.

“I wasn’t afraid because I was #9 in the WBA rankings. In fact, WBA president Gilberto Mendoza congratulated me. And I’ve got a promise that if my rights in professional boxing would be stopped, I could fight in the APB or WSB. This is why I was calm. There is a difference between fighting 12-round bouts and 3-round fights, but my boxing as a pro was based on rhythm and speed so I made a try to adapt immediately. I will go to the Olympics with the utmost determination. My goal is a medal.”

Before the Vargas qualification, those three professionals weren’t part of so-called Registered Testing Pool (RTP). It consists of a list of names and is a tool used by WADA affiliates. All the boxers mentioned in it enter into the special ADAMS system that shows the location of each one of them 24/7. This is how the anti-doping officials are capable of making surprise doping tests to the boxers.

If an athlete is not found three times at the location, posted by him or his team, it’s equal to an automatic doping ban. The system ensures that a preventive control is taking place all the year and puts the elite competitors on equal basis.

Three days ago on the AIBA’s official web page there was an active link to the organization’s Registered Testing Pool (RTP). The list consisted of just 19 names on it. Among them were three fighters from USA and two each from England and Azerbaijan. There wasn’t a boxer from the other leading boxing forces Russia, Ukraine, China and Uzbekistan. After our inquiry on the topic, the link was removed, but we still keep a copy.

“This is incorrect,” commented the AIBA on the link of just 19 fighters that was showed at RTP. “Despite the financial costs linked to such a policy, AIBA works closely with the DFSU (Doping-Free Sport Unit) for the outsourcing of the out-of-competition testing program that targets all the boxers that are currently in the AIBA Registered Testing Pool 2016. The number you refer to does not reflect the reality as there are 109 boxers in the AIBA RTP comprised of boxers not already being tested at a national level by their respective NADO/RADO’s.”

* * *

Let’s make one more parallel with some other Olympic sports federations. The list of United World Wrestling is showing 160 athletes in their RTP list. International Weightlifting Federation put 297 competitors into it. International cycling union’s RTP list is a total record breaker with 25 pages of names.

None of the three pro boxers, who won quotas for Rio, weren’t on the RTP list. N’Jikam, Ruenroeng and Tommasone are former Olympic boxing competitors. In the AIBA anti-doping rules there is a strict mention what the boxers who want to return to Olympic boxing tournaments must do.

“If an athlete wishes to resume competing, they will not be able to do so until they have given AIBA written notice of their intent to resume competing and made themselves available for testing for a period of six months,” said the AIBA anti-doping rule.

AIBA’s Extraordinary Congress voted officially that pro boxers can participate in Olympic Games on June 1. Before that the pro boxers didn’t know for sure that are eligible to be part of qualification in Vargas (3-8 July). So, why then didn’t the AIBA rules apply for them? We asked that question to the AIBA’s highest official, AIBA president Dr. Ching-Kwo Wu.

“AIBA has adopted extraordinary measures to ensure that all these athletes are clean and they have signed a declaration stating that they abide to AIBA anti-doping rules,” said Dr. Wu. “Other measures include the inclusion of the athlete in a testing pool, out-of-competition testing prior to enter AIBA competitions. These boxers will also be requested to complete the ALPHA course and present the certification proving that he received adequate education on anti-doping.”

We also asked President Wu why N’Jikam, Ruenroeng and Tommasone weren’t part of ADAMS program so soon before the start of the Olympic Games.

“As soon as the eligibility of the boxers for Vargas was confirmed, AIBA ensured that all profiles, as is the case for all boxers, were up to date on Adams and did the necessary education to remind the boxers of their duties in this area,” he answered. “Additionally, all pro qualified to Rio 2016 are included in the RTP list as an evidence of our transparency and integrity policy.”

Our last, and maybe the most important question to president Wu, regarding anti-doping issues, was if it’s true that AIBA never ordered a single out-of-competition doping test in 2015?

“Anti-Doping is of the utmost important for AIBA and there is no compromise on this issue. We would like to remind you that we have been signatories of the WADA Code since 2003 and ahead of Rio 2016 we have doubled down on our education towards the boxers, installing a process for all qualified boxers in Rio to take the WADA Alpha online test and extensive documentation is available online on aiba.org and on all competition venues at our events.

“After the change in operational governance in June 2015, a full audit and review were conducted in particular in our anti-doping policy and consequently AIBA has been conducting out-of-competition testing in 2016, mostly towards athletes not already under the regime of their NF/Nado. Despite the financial costs linked to such a policy, AIBA has reached an agreement with the DFSU for the outsourcing of the out-of-competition testing program that will target all the boxers that are currently in the AIBA Registered Testing Pool 2016.”

We asked AIBA what is the reason that the previous “operational governance” that was changed in June 2015, took so little care in the fight against doping?

“Since the new operational AIBA governance you mention, numerous internal audits in all areas were conducted to ensure efficiency of our organization, the voluntary review with WADA was undertaken as part of this policy. A report with recommendations was established, and both organizations have worked very closely in last months to ensure an optimal anti-doping program covering in and out of competition testing and fully compliant with WADA code,” was the answer from AIBA.

To be fair to AIBA’s efforts, after WADA visited their headquarters in December 2015 they showed for the first time the numbers of their improved anti-doping program after a special request from Fightnews.com®.

“In 2016, 400 urine and 51 blood “in competition” tests were carried out. In addition to this 120 out-of-competition tests including urine and blood were conducted. Please note that the TDSSA (Technical Document for Sport Specific Analysis) requirements have been applied to all out of competition tests for qualified boxers. We would like to underline that 15% of the total boxers participated to our event have been tested, a figure which is higher than the 10% usually conducted by other IFs,” announced the AIBA.

Check out the previous reports in the series:

Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V

[JMac]

From the Guardian: Rio 2016: Olympic boxing tournament hit by corruption allegations

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/ ... _clipboard

[ogii3]

Many more things will come out. Seems the organization is very rotten and the problem is that they don't want to heal.