(Reuters) – The International Boxing Association’s (AIBA) suspended president Wu Ching-kuo announced on Monday that he would step down from his post to “resolve the management issues” within the Olympic sport’s governing body.
Wu, who will be replaced by interim chief Franco Falcinelli, said in a joint statement with the Swiss-based organization that he would withdraw and terminate related pending procedures before civil courts and the AIBA disciplinary commission.
“I step down in the best interests of both AIBA and boxing but I remain committed to ensure a smooth handover to the new leadership,” the 70-year-old Wu, who has been at the helm for 11 years, said.
The AIBA would convene an extraordinary congress with its national member federations on Jan. 27 in Dubai to consider proposed changes to its governance, the statement added.
Wu was provisionally suspended by a disciplinary commission last month after a complaint from 11 AIBA executive committee members who alleged he had “violated and continues to violate various provisions of AIBA’s Statutes and Codes”.
AIBA has been riven with in-fighting for months, with Taiwan’s Wu pitted against most of the executive committee who failed to remove him through a vote of no confidence in July.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; editing by Clare Fallon)
