Interim President Mohamed Moustahsane has come under increasing pressure from AIBA Executive Committee members ©AIBA

A schism within the International Boxing Association (AIBA) after it was suspended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has deepened as Ukraine's Volodymyr Prodyvus became the latest Executive Committee member to rally against the leadership.

Prodyvus claimed the Executive Committee had been "kept in the dark" over how AIBA plans to respond to the IOC and the damning report which saw the governing body stripped of any involvement in the boxing event at Tokyo 2020.

The Ukrainian Boxing Federation head has been involved in a heated exchange of letters with Interim President Mohamed Moustahsane, seen by insidethegames, in which he accuses the AIBA top brass of ignoring requests from a third of Executive Committee members to convene an extraordinary meeting before the IOC Session on June 24.

His numerous claims were dismissed by Moustahsane as the Moroccan accused Prodyvus of spreading "misleading and false information".

The AIBA Interim President also revealed an Executive Committee meeting will be held on June 27, three days after the IOC Session is likely to confirm the decision made by the Executive Board.

Prodyvus claimed the current AIBA leadership's actions since the IOC Executive Board's decision on May 21 are "very far from good governance".

It comes after the AIBA Executive Committee unanimously agreed to give the AIBA Bureau - the Confederation heads plus Moustahsane and executive director Tom Virgets - the power to deal with the fallout from the IOC's unprecedented decision at its meeting on May 18.

Prodyvus admitted the report from the IOC Inquiry Committee had revealed "many concerning facts that were previously concealed from my knowledge and, I believe, from the knowledge of other Executive Committee members and National Federations".

Ukrainian Volodymyr Prodyvus has become the latest Executive Committee to rally against the leadership ©ASBC
Ukrainian Volodymyr Prodyvus has become the latest Executive Committee to rally against the leadership ©ASBC

The Ukrainian appeared to inherently criticise Moustahsane's role in the decision taken by the IOC as he claimed those mentioned in the IOC report "need to take responsible steps to protect the image of boxing and AIBA at that meeting and beyond".

Moustahsane's election as Interim President is cited by the Inquiry Committee as a cause for concern owing to his role as chair of the Draw Commission for the scandal-ridden boxing competition at Rio 2016.

Prodyvus also called for elections to be held as soon as possible to increase AIBA's chances of being reinstated after Tokyo 2020.

It has been perceived by some insiders as a move from the Ukrainian towards declaring his interest in standing to become AIBA President.

"Remaining silent to all the damning revelations made by the IOC about AIBA to the whole world, especially for those specifically mentioned in the report, while keeping its own Executive Committee members in the dark yet again is very far from good governance," he wrote in his letter to Moustahsane earlier this week.

"I, as well as other AIBA EC members, wish that when the IOC will be in session on June 24, its members will have seen the initiation of real change in AIBA.

"I do not know which stakeholders you are currently engaging in the analysis of the IOC report or the realisation of the best solutions for the future of our sport, but you are definitely not involving your own elected Executive Committee members."

Moustahsane's response was equally criticial, claiming Prodyvus "cannot reasonably claim that the Executive Committee was not involved in the process and spread out misleading and false information" as he did not attend the May 18 meeting.

"Furthermore, it is fully inappropriate for a member of the Executive Committee, who can easily have access to any and all information from AIBA upon simple request not to ask anything, but to write an open letter," he wrote.

"Your reproaches with respect to concealing or not disclosing information are therefore without any merit. 

"You should first have consulted the information available on AIBA’s website and/or attended the Executive Committee meeting and asked questions in the proper forum before writing your letter."

The decision by the International Olympic Committee to suspend AIBA from involvement in the Tokyo 2020 boxing competition has caused a schism within the organisation ©Getty Images
The decision by the International Olympic Committee to suspend AIBA from involvement in the Tokyo 2020 boxing competition has caused a schism within the organisation ©Getty Images

Moustahsane revealed he had been involved in "numerous contacts" with IOC officials, including Inquiry Committee head Nenad Lalović and Morinari Watanabe, chair of the taskforce established to oversee the Olympic boxing tournament at Tokyo 2020 and the qualification system.

"Please be reassured that we do not ‘work in the dark’ but in full transparency and in full compliance with our statutes and the decisions issued by the ExCo, including during its meeting on May 18," he added.

"The situation is under control by the appropriate bodies within AIBA."