You can understand why we Brits - and the BBC in particular - get right up the noses of those who govern international sport.

First it was the revelations of bungs within FIFA and now we have Newsnight's allegations of boxing backhanders in Baku.

So what are the pros and cons, if you'll pardon the phrase, of this latest so-called scandal where we are asked to believe cash has been offered to ensure Olympic gold medals by way of a spot of ringside vote rigging?

Let's begin by saying that in 50 years of covering the sport I swear I have never seen a fixed fight - at least, not one where a contestant has taken a dive.  But there have been dozens where the judging obviously has been either crazy or crooked. The latter mostly in the amateur game.

It certainly happened at the Seoul Olympics when American Roy Jones was disgracefully robbed of gold after clearly beating Korean Park Si-Hun, who was openly embarrassed at the contrived result, following which three ringside judges were suspended.


It is scandalous that the IOC having been made aware the verdict was a swindle, still have not given Jones the gold medal.  If the Korean had tested positive for dope, that would have happened.  Same difference, surely.

I also agree, with Britain's current Olympic champion James DeGale, that there were dodgy decisions in Beijing.

"How come the Chinese who are novices in boxing ended up with two gold medals?" he asks. Good question, and one similar to that Dr C K Wu the president of the international governing body AIBA is having to answer following BBC Newsnight allegations that one of his henchmen, Ivan Khodabakhsh, arranged a $9 million payment from an Azerbaijan source, possibly the Government, to help bankroll their World Series Boxing tournament in return for a couple of guaranteed golds in London next year.

"Ludicrous" says Dr Wu the English-educated Taiwanese construction tycoon who now finds himself the Sepp Blatter of boxing, angrily having to instigate an inquiry into British-made allegations of wrongdoing on his watch.

Dr Wu came to power on a clean-up-the-sport ticket (and he appeared to have done so) so we must hope there will be no under-the-carpet sweeping.

Those allegations will be hard to prove.  But it is rather intriguing that Azerbaijan, an oil-rich chip off the old Soviet Bloc has, like Qatar in football suddenly emerged as a sporting power-base, principally boxing, AIBA, having held their convention there and switched the current World Championships to the capital Baku from Busan in South Korea where they were originally scheduled.

Baku, by the way, is also bidding for the 2020 Olympics, as is Qatar's Doha.  Welcome to the Olympic age of the nouveau riche.


However, from what we glean from the initial stages of the World Boxing Championships, it seems that the Azeris have some distance to go in terms of the proper organisation of prestigious international sports events.

Although how it was organised that five of the nine boxers representing Azerbaijan managed to be given seedings reflected by their world rankings in the draw for these championships seems another questionable matter for AIBA. It was the result of a rule change curiously introduced just in time for these world championships, which a British MP has asked the IOC to investigate.

Ah, Britain interfering again, AIBA will sigh.

While AIBA may appear to have done Azerbaijan a favour, they haven't done themselves any with such an iffy move.

So how bent is boxing? DeGale, from the safety of the pro side of the ropes claims that amateur boxing is contaminated by corrupt judging. Well, it certainly was under the shady stewardship of Dr Wu's predecessor, Anwar Chowdry, but I doubt that is the case now, though I was present at the press conference in Beijing when Romania's ABA president, Rudel Obreja, an AIBA technical delegate and former vice President, publicly alleged there had been some voting skulduggery. Suddenly his microphone was turned off, the lights went out and he was ushered away. Obreja remains suspended, as does Romania itself at the moment.

I have tried to discover whether Paul King, the former ABA of England chief executive, who tried to orchestrate a coup against Dr Wu before falling on his sword when it failed, now feels somewhat vindicated. But so far, he has been unavailable for comment.

Understandably, too, both the ABAE and GB Boxing, subsequently personas non grata with AIBA, have been circumspect in their reaction, hoping that despite the present rumpus, fresh attempts at bridge building will be successful.

It seems to me that AIBA are their own worst enemies. Certainly they have not won many friends abroad of late, in particular with their shamefully anachronistic ban on pro-associated coaches like GB's Rob McCracken and the US guru, Freddie Roach being banned from the corner at World and Olympic tournaments, an action condemned in the US as "despotic". They also disciplined, not only the ABAE but a dozen other nations following the attempt to unseat Dr Wu.


Now we hear that AIBA arbitrarily have decided to bar Amir Khan's younger brother Haroon from boxing for Pakistan in the Games because he once wore an England junior vest. This despite him having won a bronze medal for Pakistan in the last Commonwealth Games.

Now I admit to being a natural cynic. When I first saw the Newsnight programme, I thought there might be something in it. On reflection, I am not so sure. My guess is that AIBA have not been corrupt, just rather clumsy.

It is virtually - though not absolutely - impossible to arrange for a boxer from a particular nation to go all the way to an Olympic final and win a gold under the revamped judging system. To do that, it isn't the judges who would have to be fixed, but the computer, and I suppose that theoretically could be done, but it's a hell of a risk with such a forensic media these days. The real danger is that there are some strong elements within the IOC who would like to see boxing ko'd and it is hanging on to its Olympic berth by its gloved fingertips with a host of less traditional pursuits jostling to replace it. Fortunately it has a supporter in President Jacques Rogge, who, I am reliably informed once did a spot of ringside judging himself (woe betide anyone who tried to bribe him eh!).

Also, let's not forget judging can be at worst equally corrupt, or at best politically suspect in other Olympic sports, notably gymnastics and ice skating; less so in judo, wrestling and taekwondo.

We must emphasise that all the allegations of corruption are vehemently denied by AIBA and Dr Wu has promptly ordered an investigation.


It seems to me that much of the good work Dr Wu has done since coming to power is being undermined by some rather poor PR and Newsnight's naughtiness cannot have helped a man who is well respected within the IOC in any ambitions he may harbour to become a future President of that body.

Which is why, should there be any substance to these charges, he must keep his vow to be utterly ruthless in any punitive action.

I have no doubt that Dr Wu is an honourable man of the sporting world, but he seems to be guilty of some naivety if he did not perceive that such a mysterious, hitherto unpublicised transaction involving millions of dollars would not raise eyebrows when inevitably unearthed, and not just at the BBC.

There is one very simple solution to this mess; Newsnight should name their sources and AIBA reveal their anonymous benefactor. This surely would expose the truth.

It is all very well blowing whistles. Time somebody rang the bell.

Alan Hubbard is an award-winning sports columnist for The Independent on Sunday, and a former sports editor of The Observer. He has covered a total of 16 Summer and Winter Olympics, 10 Commonwealth Games, several football World Cups and world title fights from Atlanta to Zaire.