An IOC spokesman did not confirm or deny if the invitation from Rakhimov had been accepted when asked by insidethegames.

The Inquiry Committee being chaired by IOC Executive Board member Nenad Lalovic was formed in November following serious concerns with AIBA's governance, financial management and the integrity of its competitions.

It followed the election earlier that month of Rakhimov as AIBA President despite him being labelled by the United States Treasury Department as "one of Uzbekistan's leading criminals".

On top of that, as first reported by insidethegames, AIBA are also reportedly unable to maintain or open a bank account in Switzerland, another serious issue for the IOC.

They are currently using a bank in Serbia. 

Further concerns are anti-doping and the integrity of judging.

As a consequence, the IOC have frozen all preparations for the Olympic boxing tournament at Tokyo 2020.

Although they still hope to hold boxing in the Japanese capital, it could go ahead without AIBA's involvement.

Rakhimov has always denied any wrongdoing and earlier this week wrote to Lalovic suggesting a "kick-off meeting" in early January to get things underway.

According to a statement released by AIBA, Rakhimov also confirmed that "he and the entire AIBA leadership look forward to collaborating with the Committee and to providing clarity regarding any questions that the IOC may have following the latest progress report submitted to the IOC".

He also reportedly asked that, "in the spirit of transparency", any hearing conducted as part of the inquiry be open to the public. 

AIBA has pointed to the official Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) rankings, which now places them in the top-half of summer International Federations, as a sign of their progress.

They have argued AIBA is now fully compliant with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Code and has signed agreements with the International Testing Agency, while they claim to have introduced "revamped" refereeing and judging systems to promote transparency and fair play.

AIBA have also reported that their financial situation is "stable" with "positive cash-flow" due to a "significant increase in revenues".

However, despite all this, in response to a request for comment from insidethegames the IOC have said they are still reviewing documents provided by AIBA in November.

"We will not comment before the IOC EB [Executive Board] has taken a final position," they said, making no reference to the January request.

"But we can emphasise that AIBA's right to be heard will be respected."

The IOC Executive Board is not due to meet again until March 26, meaning the likelihood of Rakhimov's request being granted appears slim.

Elsewhere, despite the looming possibility of boxing's Olympic axe, in his December newsletter to AIBA members Rakhimov suggested 2018 has been "a very good year for our organisation".

"We have come a long way and we have a lot to be proud of," he said.

"I am very happy to report that we are leaving this year in a much stronger and healthier state than when we entered it."