In an unprecedented period of financial turmoil, the International Boxing Association (AIBA) has voted to suspend President Wu Ching-Kuo effective immediately.
The vote was done on October 9 by the AIBA's Disciplinary Commission and Wu will not be able to appeal the decision, possibly ending Wu's tine as AIBA president, which started in 2006. Below is part of the announcement on the AIBA's official website.
On Monday 9 October, the AIBA Disciplinary Commission served the International Boxing Association President Ching-Kuo Wu with a provisional and immediate suspension from duties pending the conclusion of the Commission’s Complaint case.
Wu is able to participate in any pending matter before the Commission in which he is a named as party. This interim suspension will be considered at the conclusion of the Commission’s proceedings on the complaint case.
There had been issues at the top of the governing body after the treasurer and finance director resigned following claims that they "were sidelined" by Wu. An executive committee member was also removed by the AIBA president after the executive was worried about possible irregularities within the organizations finances. That executive member was reinstated by Swiss courts, where AIBA headquarters are located, in mid-July.
Outside of the financial troubles, AIBA has been under scrutiny for some time now, with numerous claims by many in the boxing community that the judging had been subpar during the 2016 Summer Olympics.
According to the Disciplinary Commission, AIBA is now £11.6million in debt "without any management or commercial reason" and has not been able to persuade auditors KPMG to sign off on its 2016 accounts.
All these different issues eventually led to the Disciplinary Commission voting on suspending Wu. The four main issues that led to this decision boiled down to the following: attempts to dismiss opponents on the executive commission, taking commercial decisions without approval, misleading the media and national federations about AIBA's finances and blocking an attempt to organize a vote of no confidence against him.
During the period of suspension, the organization will now try to find a replacement president or at least place someone in the position of interim president most likely to be the organization's most senior vice president, Franco Falcinelli, the former head of the Italian boxing federation.
