International Boxing Association (AIBA) President C K Wu has been provisionally suspended by the organisation’s Executive Committee after they allegedly uncovered fresh allegations of wrongdoing against the Taiwanese official.
Wu, President of AIBA since 2006, was given a similar sanction by the Disciplinary Commission last month and the body’s ruling Executive Committee voted 14-0 in favour of keeping it in place following a two-day meeting in Dubai.
The organisation’s legal counsel and lawyers had the initial decision to suspend Wu, a member of the International Olympic Committee’s Executive Board, was illegal.
Ricardo Contreras and CPV Partners, a Lausanne-based law firm retained by Wu, were subsequently sacked by Acting Interim President Franco Falcinelli.
In a statement published on AIBA’s website, the Executive Committee claim they have uncovered “additional revelations of wrongdoings” by Wu.
They added that “fresh charges of abuse of power and financial mismanagement” have been put forward to the AIBA Disciplinary Commission to review.
Wu has appealed to the Swiss District Court in Lausanne, who are due to hear the case on Friday (November 10) after they rejected his request for superprovisional measures.
The AIBA Executive Committee also claim plans are going ahead for the convening of an Extraordinary Congress to be held in January 2018 in Dubai, “where a no-confidence motion will be submitted to a vote of all attending National Federations”.
In a further development in the protracted feud at amateur boxing’s worldwide governing body, the Executive Committee accused the 71-year-old of a number of “serious” allegations in the statement.
The claims from the AIBA Executive Committee largely relate to financial mismanagement, including accusations that Wu concealed a report detailing the “extremely concerning financial mismanagement of companies affiliated to AIBA”.
It also alleged that Wu has failed to provide accurate information on AIBA’s current financial situation and that he has been warned in documents from internal officers at the governing body and external auditors of the “concerning” financial state of the organisation.
“Instead of providing full and complete information, President Wu continued to give inaccurate financial information to AIBA’s bodies and to issue public statements claiming AIBA’s finances were healthy and sound,” the statement claimed.
It also included that Wu allegedly had “secret plans to replace elected officials on the Executive Committee and elected bodies of National Federations by a professional boxing promoter”, which goes against AIBA’s statutes.
Suggestions that Wu has been orchestrating plans to remove those AIBA Executive Committee members who have led a coup to remove him from the helm of the organisation were reiterated.
Wu has previously denied this.
It has been claimed that this includes six members and three members of the AIBA Executive Committee Bureau.
The financial mismanagement claims come amid concern over a loan agreement with Azerbaijani company Benkons MMC, which is reportedly owed $10 million (£7.7 million/€8.4 million) by AIBA.
“Some of the findings were absolutely shocking,” Canadian AIBA Executive Committee member Pat Fiacco said.
“We would have never imagined his attempts to transform our organisation into his own personal business, disregarding the AIBA Statutes.
“We have the determination and unity among all members of the Executive Committee to protect our National Federation members from getting damaged by the President’s wrongdoings and financial mismanagement in the past.”
