Boxing Body Near Bankrupt, Facing 2020 Olympic Exclusion

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — The International Boxing Association says it is near bankruptcy, days before a decision to formally exclude the body from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

AIBA chief executive Tom Virgets has told board members it will be insolvent if International Olympic Committee members derecognize the troubled body as expected next Wednesday.

Virgets says in a letter to AIBA executive committee members that IOC decisions "were clearly designed to bankrupt" it.

He says AIBA has less than $400,000 in the bank, is releasing all but three staff, and cannot afford to challenge the IOC at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The IOC board last month recommended excluding AIBA after appointing an inquiry panel to investigate its finances, governance and integrity of judging and refereeing Olympic bouts. A key factor was AIBA members electing Gafur Rakhimov as president while on a U.S. sanctions list with suspected links to organized crime.

The IOC is working on a fresh qualification program next year to send male and female boxers to 13 medal events in Tokyo.