November 06, 2006	Monday	Shawwal 13, 1427

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KARACHI, Nov 5: After two decades of what many believe was a controversy-plagued rule, Anwar Chowdhry’s boxing kingdom has finally tumbled down after being dethroned by Chinese Taipei’s Ching-Kuo Wu, who became the new International Boxing Association (AIBA) chief.

The 83-year-old Pakistani, who ruled boxing’s international ruling body for 20 years with an iron hand, finally met his Waterloo in Santa Domingo, South America on Friday where Wu, 60, scored victory by securing 83 votes against Chowdhry’s 79.

The outcome of the elections was not something surprising as his downfall was already predicted since Chowdhry was facing a barrage of criticism within AIBA ranks abroad and as the Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) chairman at home.

Chowdhry, who became the president of AIBA in 1986 and held the office without facing any serious challenge till now, has been a controversial figure in international boxing.

Be it mega events such as Olympic Games or international tournaments organised by PBF at home, Chowdhry had always been openly criticized by various officials for manipulating results in favour of Pakistani boxers.

It was 2004 Olympic qualifying round in Karachi that became a farce when a Thailand team official blasted Chowdhry for manipulation in results by interchanging the scores of the boxers. Interestingly, it was Chowdhry who introduced Chowdhry Scoring System during his tenure.

The Indian team coach Sidhu had also created a storm in the same event over what he said was unjust and unfair decision, protesting in front of jury, organising secretary Shakeel Durrani and Chowdhry.

However, a revolt against Chowdhry from his AIBA colleagues must also have made an impact over the election results. And it was not a sudden move as lava and animosity against Chowdhry was brewing up since long as many in AIBA believe that he had been involved in corrupt practices.

Chowdhry’s downfall was further supplemented after recent scandal unearthed by Dawn against him in which AIBA executive committee member Rudel Obreja, in several letters to Chowdhry, had questioned the Pakistani to disclose the source of huge sum of money in his Swiss bank account.

A withdrawal of $350,000 in March from joint account of Chowdhry and his daughter Sonia Shakeel from Zurich-based UBS Bank to Union Bank in Karachi made headlines recently.

Chowdhry also came into limelight when he refused to submit original invoices for accounts audit to Swiss auditing company Fiduciaire Tucker. He further tainted his image, flatly refusing to submit the supporting documents for four years despite being asked by his secretary Caner Doganeli and auditing firm repeatedly. His supporting documents came only when auditing firm had left AIBA headquarters Lausanne.

The Pakistani, who first entered into AIBA domain in 1966 as vice-president before being elected secretary-general in 1974, was also asked by Obreja to explain about his connection with Green Hill — a Pakistani sports goods manufacturing company.

Obreja believes that Chowdhry, along with his son-in-law Shakeel Durrani, is involved in receiving commission from the company.

He was at loggerheads even with International Olympic Committee (IOC) which was not happy with AIBA under Chowdhry’s leadership. Being a member of IOC, Wu is believed to have a thumping support from IOC at the elections.

Apart from international scandals, Chowdhry has been facing a tough time at home front as well. It was his pick-and-choose policies, whimsical decisions and promoting his son-in-law Shakeel, favouring particular officials by appointing them in different capacities, that played major role in friction between him and many involved in boxing at national and grassroots levels.

Many believe that it was Chowdhry’s manoeuvring that Shakeel was elected AIBA executive committee member at last election and was appointed secretary AIBA’s Referee/Judge Commission in 2002 without having boxing credentials.

At the same time, Chowdhry doesn’t have many friends in sports controlling bodies at home considering his bitter relations with Pakistan Sports Board and Pakistan Olympic Association which he usually refers to as ‘post office’.

His tactics of running Pakistan boxing affairs single-handedly, with hardly a handful of favourites around him, has angered many in Pakistan as well. After his downfall as AIBA chief, Chowdhry now faces yet another uphill battle at home as it was his AIBA office which helped him run the domestic boxing affairs with an iron grip.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s Doganeli has been re-elected secretary-general for his second term.