Mapp was forced to resign following an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) that saw both England and Scotland call for his removal, and only Wales voted to save him.

The situation is shrouded in controversy as there were only three voting Board members - Ted Goreham from the Amateur Boxing Association of England (ABAE), Kevin Bell from Amateur Boxing Scotland (ABS) and James Thomas from the Welsh Amateur Boxing Association (WABA).

UK Sport has already warned that funding for the BABA will be redirected to a newly-formed Special Purpose Vehicle if the situation is not resolved by June 10 next month and Wu, an International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board member, has added his considerable voice to those angered by the removal of Mapp.


"We are very disappointed what has happened with Derek and we certainly regret what happened," Wu told insidethegames here.

"We will do our best to help resolve the situation, and the problem between the three federations of England, Scotland and Wales.

"It must be resolved quickly because from next year in all AIBA competitions - Britain will compete as one team - like they do at the Olympic Games - rather than as three teams.

"We think this will bring more unity and we want to see more unity from Britain but right now, we can only see conflict.

"This is a very unfortunate situation because last year, Britain hosted the most successful Olympic boxing completion ever, where they also topped the medal table.

"It was a huge success boxing in Britain but now we see this problem - and the ones who will suffer will be the boxers."

The removal of Mapp means Britain's participation in AIBA's World Series of Boxing (WSB) is now in jeopardy.

Britain made their debut in the event this year with their franchise the British Lionhearts but without the support of Mapp it could be scrapped for season four of the event when it begins later this year.

It also spells trouble for Britain's participation in AIBA Pro Boxing (APB), the new tournament that will begin with exhibition bouts later this year.

Not being involved would be particularly problematic for Britain given that the APB will offer 56 quota places for the Rio 2016 Olympics, with the WSB offering a further ten.

"I think the removal of Derek will slow to the entire development of boxing in Britain," including with the WSB and APB in the UK," Wu told insidethegames.

"But most importantly, this is a loss to the boxers themselves so we need a quick resolution.

"We will do everything we can to help but there is a feeling of huge disappointment from AIBA at what has happened."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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