Posted by Tanzania has been stripped of its International Boxing Association (AIBA) membership following the resignation of the Boxing Federation of Tanzania (BFT) executive committee last month, APA learned Thursday.
AIBA wrote to the African Boxing Confederation (ABC), the Minister for Information, Culture and Sports and the Tanzania Olympic Committee (TOC) to know if BFT had held fresh elections or appointed an interim committee before the country is considered for re-admission.
But BFT vice-president Christopher Mutarubukwa said in Dar es Salaam on Thursday that AIBA’s decision to cancel Tanzania’s membership has been fueled by the illicit drug trafficking scandal facing BFT.
He said the decision was reached at the AIBA executive committee’s extraordinary meeting held in Geneva, Switzerland, on November 17 in which Tanzania’s current crisis was the main agenda.
National boxers Emilian Patrick and Petro Mtagwa, and their coach Nassor Michael were arrested in Mauritius where they had gone to participate in the African Boxing Championships earlier this year.
They are suspected to have conspired with three other Tanzanians — Elia Nathaniel, Case Ramadhan and Ally Msengwa — and a Kenyan woman Priscilla Nduiti to smuggle heroin into the Indian Ocean island.
BFT president Shaaban Mintanga was arrested soon after in Dar es Salaam in connection with the charges and is currently in remanded in prison awaiting trial.
“The AIBA’s decision to strip Tanzania of its membership is a huge relief to BFT because the federation’s officials could have been banned from engaging in boxing for five years had they continued to cling to power,’’ said Mutarubukwa.
Source African Press Agency
