Slow on reforms, boxing faces Olympic knockout

Turning up the heat on world boxing leaders to hasten reforms, the International Olympic Committee is threatening to drop the sport, possibl...

Turning up the heat on world boxing leaders to hasten reforms, the International Olympic Committee is threatening to drop the sport, possibly before the Beijing Games in 2008, according to documents and interviews.

8216;8216;We are on the warpath and it8217;s about time things start happening,8217;8217; said one senior IOC member, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of a fear of retribution.

IOC officials say the governing body has not moved quickly enough to change the way matches are scored and how judges and referees are selected.

Officials also have raised concerns about the management of the International Boxing Federation by Anwar Chowdhry of Pakistan, who has headed the body for two decades.

The federation, known as AIBA, is due later this year to hold a major congress at which Chowdhry8217;s future almost certainly will be on the agenda.

The sport, an Olympic mainstay for a century, has survived previous calls for expulsion, and its removal amid the current controversy is considered a long shot.

As one of the few sports in which medalists come from many nations, large and small, boxing maintains a broad political constituency within the Olympics. The 2004 Games in Athens, for instance, produced medal winners from such athletic backwaters as North Korea, Syria and Azerbaijan.

But IOC officials say they are fed up.

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8216;8216;The time has come,8217;8217; said the senior IOC delegate. 8216;8216;8230; There is already a question of the status of boxing for 2008 because this reform has taken too long. The IOC does not understand why.8217;8217;

When the IOC in July froze about 9 million due to the AIBA, IOC president Jacques Rogge said the money would be held until the federation provided a 8216;8216;clear timeline and planned actions.8217;8217;

In a letter to Chowdhry dated November 22, Rogge said the IOC was 8216;8216;concerned by the pace of the reforms8217;8217; and indicated there would be a 8216;8216;final review8217;8217; after the 2008 Games.

Chowdhry responded a week later, saying the AIBA was 8216;8216;experimenting8217;8217; with an 8216;8216;open8217;8217; scoring system, one in which a running tally is visible in the arena. That is not the case now in Olympic fights; when there is no knockout, the first time fans in an Olympic arena learn the outcome is when the referee raises the winner8217;s hand.

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On December 20, Rogge wrote again to Chowdhry, saying the IOC was 8216;8216;convinced8217;8217; that a 8216;8216;fundamental review of scoring, refereeing and judging systems employed by AIBA should be undertaken.8217;8217;

He also indicated a 8216;8216;final review8217;8217; would take place after 2008.

But the matter has gained urgency in recent weeks. The IOC8217;s executive board now appears set to address it in meetings here next week before the start of the Winter Games.

Chowdhry, in an e-mail to the Los Angeles Times, said the boxing federation had 8216;8216;no indication either official or unofficial from the IOC8217;8217; about the sport8217;s status for the 2008 Olympics.

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He also said the AIBA was 8216;8216;confident8217;8217; an open scoring system would be in place by the 2008 Games, and that AIBA intended to 8216;8216;develop software for selecting the judges for the bout without any human interference.8217;8217;

Currently, senior AIBA executives select judges and referees, which has led to allegations 8212; unproven 8212; of undue influence. LATWP