MOSCOW, November 3 (Reuters): Uzbek businessman Gafur Rahimov was elected president of the international boxing association AIBA on Saturday, TASS news agency said, despite his presence on a U.S. sanctions list. His election is likely to fall foul of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which is currently weighing up the future of boxing as an Olympic sport due to ongoing issues with AIBA's finances and governance. The IOC has previously criticised AIBA, the worldwide governing body for amateur boxing, for its decision to place Rahimov at the helm in January as interim president. Rahimov, 67, is on the U.S. Treasury Department's sanctions list "for providing material support" to a criminal organisation, a claim he strongly denies. "Such behaviour is affecting not just the reputation of AIBA and boxing but of sport in general," the IOC said in October. On Saturday, TASS said Rahimov received 86 votes from 137 delegates of the AIBA Congress, which is being held in Moscow. He beat Kazakh former boxer and Olympic silver medallist Serik Konakbayev for the association's top job. "By the end of 2017, AIBA was not just in a dangerous position but, let's be frank, it was simply on the verge of self-destruction and financial bankruptcy," TASS cited Rahimov as saying after the vote. "It is for the sake of boxing and the future of our organisation that I agreed not only to temporarily act as its head in January this year, but also decided to put myself forward for the role of president," Rahimov was quoted as saying. Earlier on Saturday, Rahimov said that he would be willing to step down if his role as president threatened the future of AIBA in any way, TASS reported. AIBA has been in turmoil for several years. Former president Wu Ching-kuo was suspended in 2017 before stepping down. He was briefly replaced by Franco Falcinelli before Rahimov became interim president in January.
