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Amateur boxing president with alleged ties to heroin trade steps aside amid investigation

Gafur Rakhimov, one of the alleged leading criminals involved in the heroin trade, has offered to step aside as president of the Amateur International Boxing Association (AIBA) amid an investigation by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Rakhimov, who became interim president in January 2018 after a tenure as AIBA’s longest serving vice-president, agreed to step aside to allow an interim president to assume the role while the IOC investigates financial mismanagement in AIBA and determines whether amateur boxing will be expelled from the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. The IOC halted planning for the boxing tournaments at the 2020 Games and barred AIBA officials from contacting any organizers in Japan.