Top Aiba official slams Thailand boxing organizers
By Recah Trinidad
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:30:00 01/26/2008
BANGKOK -- THE HIGHEST RANKING international amateur boxing official present here spent official time Friday berating the messy opening of the Asia Olympic Boxing Qualifying tournament, short of announcing that Thailand has no business hosting the prestigious regional event.
International Amateur Boxing Association (Aiba) executive director Ho Kim, who rushed to the tournament venue direct from the airport, said he was insulted by what he saw upon arriving at the Dhurakij Pundit University gym.
There was chaos and requests for directions would lead to more questions.
Kim, responsible for getting the Philippines readmitted to the tournament after it was disqualified allegedly for failing to submit entries on time, said the lousy conduct of events was a shame to Aiba.
“There’s no secretariat, no media center, no accreditation, how could you go on this way?” Kim, in blue suit, barked upon entering a small room that was supposed to serve as media center.
He claimed the lone computer in the room and said media people present actually had no business being inside because it was his office.
“I will allow you here today, but tomorrow, you can no longer work here,” he told press people that included three reporters from Manila.
The load of organizational responsibilities has obviously been left to a bunch of neophytes.
Aiba president Wu Ching-kuo is scheduled to arrive here on Jan. 28 and Kim, in speaking louder than his president, warned that those at fault would be put to task.
Kim said he would make a critical report in the next Aiba central board meeting.
“We hold scholastic events a lot better,” said the Star’s Dante Navarro.
Together with Willy Caballes of the Manila Bulletin and your reporter here, Navarro had to wrack his brain piecing together succeeding schedules as there was no available list of participants and the draw sheet, a must in all international meets of this magnitude, was unavailable on the first day.
There were last-minute changes, like the cutting down of available Olympic slots here from 22 to 19, but media people had to do their own digging.
Kim was later seen scolding local organizers in an emergency meeting after the first-day preliminary bouts.
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