Probe into boxing corruption

An investigation has been launched into allegations that money was paid out in an attempt to ensure boxers from Azerbaijan received gold medals at the 2012 Olympics.

The claims, on last night’s Newsnight programme, revealed an investigation uncovering payments of millions of dollars from an Azeri national to the International Amateur Boxing Association’s World Series of Boxing competition, allegedly in return for guaranteed gold medals at the Games.

The BBC programme quoted AIBA president Dr Ching-Kuo Wu as saying: “I will immediately conduct an investigation into this because there is a zero tolerance policy in AIBA.”

The allegations come with the World Championships - which double as the first Olympic qualifiers - due to begin this weekend in Baku. They were moved to the Azeri capital from their original choice of Busan, South Korea, last year.