New report: 1 million bribes in Olympic boxing

Canadian Richard McClaren became known to the public two years ago, as the person whose investigation revealed extensive and state-controlled Russian doping.

His latest report shows that there have been major problems with boxing tampering and cheating, not least during the 2016 Rio Olympics and in qualifying for the Games.

“The seeds of that have been set back many years,” McLaren told a news conference, according to Reuters.

A million bribes before the semi-finals

Among other things, a bribe worth $250,000 (approximately 2.2 million kroner) was allegedly offered to control the men’s lightweight semi-final match between Otgondalay Dorginyambo of Mongolia and France’s Sofiane Omiya, he wrote. inside games.

The investigation also found “problems” in the decision to award the Olympic heavyweight gold medal to France’s Tony Yoka, who met Britain’s Joe Joyce in the final, says McLaren.

He places the main responsibility for the widespread sporting problems during the Rio Olympics on Taiwanese CK Wu, who was then president of the International Boxing Federation (AIBA).

Matches were rigged for money, because it was considered in favor of Aiba, or as a thank you to the national federations and their Olympic committees – and sometimes also many competition organizers – for their financial and political support, says Richard McClaren.

Boxing has a problem and it’s not about rules and structures. It is about people.

He was kicked out of the Olympics

It is Aiba who has commissioned the investigation, with the hope that McLaren will sort out any wrongdoing in the sport. It consists of two parts, with the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro being the first.

Questionable judges and questionable decisions during the Rio Games were one of the reasons why the International Olympic Committee (IOC) expelled Aiba from the Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Aiba was not allowed to host the Olympic qualifiers nor had representatives on site in Tokyo.