Boxing has been a mainstay of Summer Olympic Games since it was first introduced in 1904. Frank Franklin II / AP Photo
Boxing has been a mainstay of Summer Olympic Games since it was first introduced in 1904. Frank Franklin II / AP Photo

Boxing faces expulsion from Olympic Games as IOC raise concerns over AIBA governance



Boxing could be knocked out of the next Olympic Games if the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is not satisfied problems with the sport's finances and governance are sorted out, president Thomas Bach warned on Sunday.

Speaking in Pyeongchang ahead of next week's Winter Olympics, Bach said the IOC was "extremely worried" about how the sport was run and said the body was prepared to make bold decisions.

"The IOC reserves the right to review the inclusion of boxing in the programs of the Youth Olympics 2018 and Tokyo 2020," he told reporters, adding that the IOC would be freezing all contacts with the sport's governing body, AIBA, "excluding the ones on a working level necessary to implement the respective IOC decisions".

AIBA was not immediately available for comment when contacted by Reuters.

Following a two-day executive board meeting in Pyeongchang, Bach said the IOC had not been satisfied with a report prepared by AIBA, and that it would be opening an investigation into the body.

AIBA has been fraught with in-fighting for months, with former president CK Wu first provisionally suspended before stepping down last November after a bitter dispute with his executive committee.

AIBA named Uzbek Gafur Rahimov as its new Interim President last Saturday, following the unexpected resignation of Interim President Franco Falcinelli.

This is not the first time AIBA has had IOC funds blocked. The Olympic ruling body withheld payment of more than $1 million (Dh3.67m) of television rights from the Athens 2004 Olympics after a refereeing scandal at those Games.

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Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy 

Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong

Rating: 4.5/5

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More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
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The more serious side of specialty coffee

While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.

The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.

Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”

One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.

Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms. 

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