Olympic Boxing Fix Claims ‘unsupported’

Claims that results at the London 2012 Olympic Games could be fixed are ‘unsupported by any credible evidence’, according to an International Boxing Association committee.

BBC’s Newsnight cited unnamed ‘whistleblowers’ as having told its reporters they had been informed about a deal for London 2012 medals by World Series Boxing’s chief operating officer Ivan Khodabakhsh, an Azeri national.

The Special Investigation Committee probed allegations the Azerbaijan government made a $10m investment for two gold medals, however, the report claimed that “the BBC relied heavily on hearsay”.

The programme also claimed the money was needed by the WSB because it had run into financial difficulties in the United States.

AIBA, the organisers of the Olympic boxing tournament, said that an Azeri national – private investor Hamid Hamidov – paid $9m to one of their competitions – but denied any deal to fix medals.

Dr. Tom Virgets, chairman of the investigating committee’s five-member panel, told the BBC: ‘We have conducted an exhaustive investigation over the past two months.’

‘We have concluded that the allegations made by BBC Newsnight in September that there was an investment by a government or any discussion or effort to guarantee gold medals were completely without merit.’

The committee added they were satisfied that the investment was made by Mr Hamidov and was made for commercial purposes, namely to assist in the establishment and operation of US boxing franchises.