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Seedings for Azerbaijani fighters at world championships put AIBA in
the spotlight
The relationship between the Amateur International Boxing Association,
the sport's world governing body, and Azerbaijan came into focus again
after it emerged that five of the nine boxers representing the host
nation at the World Championships in Baku have been given seeded
positions that are not reflected by their world rankings.
Allegations denied: Taiwan's Wu Ching-kuo, the AIBA president Photo:
REUTERS By Gareth A Davies, Boxing Correspondent
Daily Telegraph/UK
11:52PM BST 26 Sep 2011
A new ruling, which was introduced last month, was brought in by the
AIBA to allow every home boxer in a championship to be seeded.
The news comes in the wake of an investigation by Olympic boxing
- officials into allegations, made on the BBC's Newsnight last week,
that gold medal bouts at next summer's London Games could be rigged in
a $9?million (£5.78? million) corruption operation.
Newsnight claimed to reveal secret payments of at least $9?million
from an Azerbaijani source to an AIBA subsidiary, World Series Boxing,
and aired allegations that WSB's chief executive claimed the money was
conditional on Azerbaijani fighters winning two gold medals at London
2012. The world championships, which started yesterday, also act as a
qualifying tournament for the Olympics.
The seedings see the Azerbaijani super-heavyweight Magomedrasul
Medzhidov ranked No?2, despite never having fought in a major
tournament at that weight. He is not ranked in the top 50 in the world
in the division. Of the eight other boxers, four are seeded at No?8 in
their respective weight categories although that does not reflect
their world ranking.
A boxer who is seeded is likely to avoid another seed in the early
rounds. Last night AIBA officials had not responded to a request for
an explanation of the seeding system.
In all weights bar the heaviest two, the eight quarter-finalists are
guaranteed places in London. At heavyweight and super-heavyweight,
where the Azerbaijanis are seeded three and two respectively, only
semi-finalists will qualify for the Games.
There were fears within the British and Irish camps that the Newsnight
investigations, and reporting by the British media, could impact on
the country's boxers in - - the tournament.
In Azerbaijan there was fury over the allegations of bribes.
Kamaladdin Heydarov, the emergency situations minister who also heads
Azerbaijan's boxing federation, said the corruption allegations were
lies. The AIBA president, Taiwan's Wu Ching-kuo, has also rejected the
allegations as `totally untrue and ludicrous' but confirmed that the
organisation would launch an investigation.
Last night the governing body closed ranks over the allegations with
executive committee members signing a declaration `to fight against
any type of groundless and intentionally harmful accusations against
AIBA'.
Meanwhile, the father of the Bolton boxer Haroon Khan, who is Amir
Khan's younger brother, has said the family will appeal against the
decision not to allow him to represent Pakistan at the London
Olympics.
the spotlight
The relationship between the Amateur International Boxing Association,
the sport's world governing body, and Azerbaijan came into focus again
after it emerged that five of the nine boxers representing the host
nation at the World Championships in Baku have been given seeded
positions that are not reflected by their world rankings.
Allegations denied: Taiwan's Wu Ching-kuo, the AIBA president Photo:
REUTERS By Gareth A Davies, Boxing Correspondent
Daily Telegraph/UK
11:52PM BST 26 Sep 2011
A new ruling, which was introduced last month, was brought in by the
AIBA to allow every home boxer in a championship to be seeded.
The news comes in the wake of an investigation by Olympic boxing
- officials into allegations, made on the BBC's Newsnight last week,
that gold medal bouts at next summer's London Games could be rigged in
a $9?million (£5.78? million) corruption operation.
Newsnight claimed to reveal secret payments of at least $9?million
from an Azerbaijani source to an AIBA subsidiary, World Series Boxing,
and aired allegations that WSB's chief executive claimed the money was
conditional on Azerbaijani fighters winning two gold medals at London
2012. The world championships, which started yesterday, also act as a
qualifying tournament for the Olympics.
The seedings see the Azerbaijani super-heavyweight Magomedrasul
Medzhidov ranked No?2, despite never having fought in a major
tournament at that weight. He is not ranked in the top 50 in the world
in the division. Of the eight other boxers, four are seeded at No?8 in
their respective weight categories although that does not reflect
their world ranking.
A boxer who is seeded is likely to avoid another seed in the early
rounds. Last night AIBA officials had not responded to a request for
an explanation of the seeding system.
In all weights bar the heaviest two, the eight quarter-finalists are
guaranteed places in London. At heavyweight and super-heavyweight,
where the Azerbaijanis are seeded three and two respectively, only
semi-finalists will qualify for the Games.
There were fears within the British and Irish camps that the Newsnight
investigations, and reporting by the British media, could impact on
the country's boxers in - - the tournament.
In Azerbaijan there was fury over the allegations of bribes.
Kamaladdin Heydarov, the emergency situations minister who also heads
Azerbaijan's boxing federation, said the corruption allegations were
lies. The AIBA president, Taiwan's Wu Ching-kuo, has also rejected the
allegations as `totally untrue and ludicrous' but confirmed that the
organisation would launch an investigation.
Last night the governing body closed ranks over the allegations with
executive committee members signing a declaration `to fight against
any type of groundless and intentionally harmful accusations against
AIBA'.
Meanwhile, the father of the Bolton boxer Haroon Khan, who is Amir
Khan's younger brother, has said the family will appeal against the
decision not to allow him to represent Pakistan at the London
Olympics.