Boxing may be axed from Olympics if AIBA does not reform, former UK minister warns

AIBA was suspended by the International Olympic Committee last year over widespread governance and financial concerns

Vladimir Nikitin of Russia is declared victorious over a furious Michael Conlan of Ireland during the 2016 Rio Summer Olympic Games. After a tournament marred in controversy, boxing faces exclusion from the 2024 Games, a former UK sport minister warns. Picture: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Former UK sports minister Richard Caborn has warned that boxing could be axed from the Olympic programme if its disgraced world governing body AIBA wastes its final shot at meaningful reform.

Seven candidates have declared in the race for its vacant presidency, one of whom, Azerbaijan’s Suleyman Mikayilov, is being advised by Caborn, also an ex-chair of England Boxing, through his company, Global Sports Investigations.