Wu Ching-kuo (吳經國), the embattled chief of the International Boxing Association (AIBA) — the Olympic boxing governing body — on Monday said he had the support of most of the body’s members and vowed that he would win an upcoming vote and fight off the challenge to his leadership.
A meeting of AIBA executive committee members in Moscow on Monday issued a vote of no confidence against its president, better known internationally as C.K. Wu, after he was accused of financial mismanagement at a time when the body faces a risk of bankruptcy and is millions of dollars in debt, according to international news reports.
Twelve of the members voted in favor of the motion, while two voted against.
After the vote, Wu and his office first denied having lost the president’s position, as it was reported Wu would be suspended from the post until the next vote at the body’s extraordinary congress, which would be called within three months.
Wu on Monday told Taiwanese media that international press reports on the vote were “not true” and defended himself against what he said were false accusations.
Yesterday, in an apparent reversal, AIBA vice president Franco Falcinelli said Wu would stay in office until the extraordinary congress.
“Wu will continue to work until an extraordinary congress, he has the right to that,” Falcinelli said in a press statement. “The meeting was held in a catastrophic atmosphere, a vote of no confidence was given to the president, we will hold an extraordinary meeting within three months, and we have serious financial problems and other issues.”
Wu yesterday told Taiwanese media he was confident he would win the vote and said that it was South Korean former AIBA executive Kim Ho who headed the effort to unseat him through false accusations that tarnished his reputation.
“There is no doubt in my mind that I have the support of most members to win the AIBA congress vote in three months’ time. This will enable the body to finish the reform measures under my leadership,” Wu said.
He said the move to unseat him was a revenge plot by Kim, who held the position from 2006 until Wu fired him in 2015.
“Kim bought off some members of the executive committee and they colluded to put the motion on the agenda,” Wu said.
“These people were upset because their benefits and interests had suffered under my reforms. So this group of men formed their own faction in a bid to stop the reforms. They will not win the battle,” Wu said.
Born in China in 1946 and brought to Taiwan by his family in 1947 during the Chinese Civil War, Wu has been a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) since 1988 and served on the IOC executive board since 2012. He has been AIBA president since 2006.
As the sole representative for Taiwan in the Olympics’ governing body and the IOC’s representative to Taiwan, Wu has considerable influence in the local government and sports community.
A report in the New York Times said “the [AIBA]’s precarious finances and murky governance, which has also raised concerns at the International Olympic Committee, have led several executive committee members to try to oust Wu.”
At the Moscow meeting, “Wu threatened to call security to have some of the executive committee members removed. The effort failed and the no-confidence motion passed,” the newspaper said.
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