There was unsurprisingly a rather tense atmosphere as I walked into the spectacular lobby of the Kempinski Hotel in Baku, Azerbaijan.

It had nothing to do with the surroundings of five-star luxury establishment nor the gloriously sunny weather in Baku but rather the fact that the Kempinski Hotel was about to host the International Boxing Association (AIBA) Extraordinary Congress.

This in itself was no big issue as the Extraordinary Congress had been planned for some months to coincide with the AIBA 2011 World Championships, which begin next week and act as the first major qualifier for the London 2012 Olympics.

The real issue was that just over 24 hours before the start of the Congress; BBC Newsnight had aired allegations of serious corruption against AIBA that have now gone global.

The programme alleged that Azerbaijan paid millions of dollars to AIBA in exchange for two gold medals at London 2012 with Ivan Khodabakhsh, the chief operating officer of the AIBA-owned Word Series of Boxing (WSB), facilitating the payment for $9 million (£6 million/€7.5 million) in exchange for them.

It was very clear that the allegations had very quickly filtered right through to all of the AIBA Member Federations as the lobby of the Kempinski Hotel was absolutely buzzing with the whispers of individuals discussing the topic.

The whispers continued as delegated moved into the hall where the Congress would take place and they only began to die down when AIBA President CK Wu, flanked by his formidable henchman in the form of AIBA Executive Director Ho Kim, walked into the room and took their seats at the top table.

Silence feel almost immediately as a sombre looking Wu picked up the microphone.

At this point, members were unclear as to what he would say about the allegations, if indeed anything at all. Some of the chatter I had overheard before the start of the Congress said Wu might bury his head in the sand and not even acknowledge the allegations; pretending as if nothing had happened.

But it became quickly apparent that backing away and throwing in the towel is was not Wu's style.

"My friends," he proclaimed, and for the first time in the years that I have known the AIBA President, he looked visibly emotional.

"We all know what has happened and we all know about the allegations that have been made against us.

"An allegation against one man in AIBA is an allegation against everyone in AIBA and I hear people ask, 'What should we do?'

"AIBA must stand together in this turbulent time and we will come back fighting. We are boxers and that is what we do."

Deafening applause echoed around the room.

Wu, who is also an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member carried on, stating that AIBA has now a zero tolerance policy for corruption and that he has set up a Special Investigation Committee to investigate matters.

But he did make a point to discuss the allegations themselves.

"I must say something about these allegations however," he said.

"In 2010 an agreement was signed between WSB SA, a Swiss incorporated company which runs the World Series of Boxing competition under the auspices of the AIBA, and a Swiss company for a loan in respect of the operation of WSB's American franchises.

"The Swiss company facilitated the making of the loan, which originated from an Azerbaijani private investor. The loan was not secret and nor was there anything improper about it. It was an arm's length transaction between two entities made on a commercial basis and with a view to a commercial return for the investor.

"While that investor prefers not to be named, as is their right under the terms of the agreement, AIBA can confirm that it is a private investor and is not the Azerbaijani Government or the Azerbaijani Boxing Federation and that none of the funds were derived from the Azerbaijani Government.

"Any suggestion that the loan was made in return for promises of gold medals at the 2012 Olympics is, we repeat, preposterous and utterly untrue. Such allegations have been made by individuals against AIBA who are totally discredited.

"As well as unjustifiably imputing corruption to AIBA, they demonstrate a complete misunderstanding of the procedures which now lead to the award of Olympic boxing medals and the impossibility of influencing these."

Wu finished by asking the floor if they had anything to add on the issue and it was somewhat of a surprise to see Hal Adonis, the President of USA Boxing, come marching to the top table to and take up the microphone.

As the top man at one of the most powerful National Boxing Federations on the planet, his comments would be immeasurably important and this was clearly evident by the fact that almost everyone in the room straightened up in their chairs.

"I'm embarrassed," the USA Boxing President began somewhat dramatically.

"I'm just so embarrassed by what has happened and that such accusations have been levelled at AIBA in such a cowardly way.

"Very serious allegations were made in this programme but they were made by people who refused to reveal their identity on camera, giving no opportunity to test their credibility.

"If such individuals are not prepared to publicly stand behind their allegations, such allegations cannot be regarded as either sound or credible.

"They are enemies of AIBA and enemies of boxing that seek to destroy our good name but I say that we don't let them and that we stand united."

It was clear that the USA Boxing President was not holding anything back and he was quickly joined by the President of Boxing Canada, Pat Fiacco.

Fiacco, who is also the current Mayor of Regina, went one step further than the USA Boxing President as he proposed and then passed a resolution in a matter of minutes stating the entire Congress was supportive of AIBA in denouncing the allegations.

"I want it to be clear that the whole of the boxing family from around the world supports AIBA on this matter," said Fiacco to widespread cheers.

The Congress was beginning to feel more like a rallying call to arms rather than a discussion to about AIBA Statutes.

Eventually, when enough national federations had put the boot into the BBC Newsnight programme, things settled down and the rest of Congress passed without any major event.

Ears did prick up when it was mentioned that there would be an amendment on the articles referring to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) but the change was so minor that it had no real bearing on the jurisdiction CAS over AIBA, which remains as strong as ever.

Shortly after the Congress, a press conference convened that saw the AIBA President surrounded by a throng of cameras and few questions.

As the microphone was passed around, I asked him what he thought of the timing of the BBC programme.

Wu pondered the issue for a second before he spoke.

"It is too convenient for this documentary to come out when it has one the eve of the 2011 World Championships here which are biggest competition outside the Olympics," he said.

"That is very suspicious.

"But we take this very seriously which is why we have already launched our investigation."

Shortly after, as I was sitting on a comfortable sofa in the lobby of the hotel, Wu spotted me and came over.

He once again told me of his zero tolerance policy, the impossibility of fixing boxing medals at an Olympic Games and of his surprise at the timing of the documentary – which I assume comes from his lack of knowledge of the British media.

He was also keen to discuss how much the organisation has change since he took over from Anwar Chowdhry of Pakistan who was AIBA President from 1986 to 2006 and plagued by allegations of corruption throughout his time in charge.

"I have appointed a strong Special Investigation Committee," Wu told me.

"Tom Virgets [the former USA Boxing President and chairman of AIBA Disciplinary Commission] is the right man to lead it and I told him to forget everything he has learnt in the past and just look at things objectively.

"If there is corruption here, then it will be dealt with in the harshest possible manner.

"Under Chowdhry, corruption was everywhere but I have spent the last four years cleaning the house.

"I have expelled four vice-presidents, a secretary general and six members of the executive committee because of wrongdoing.

"I promised that I would stop corruption here and I expect to be held to that promise."


He also pointed out that Khodabakhsh wouldn't even be able to deliver two gold medals at London 2012 even if he tried as the WSB chief executive officer has no role in Olympic boxing.

He added that if an Olympic boxing medal could be fixed, he would like to know how because he thinks it is "genuinely impossible."

The points were made in a rather humorous way but his tone hardened as we began to talk about the BBC again.

"We will see what the Commission's Report on the matter says," he explained.

"If there is corruption, it will be stamped out like I said.

"If the investigation shows that there is no corruption, then perhaps it would be time to ask serious questions of the BBC and to ask why they have made false allegations.

"We are a big enough organisation to defend ourselves and to fight for justice but I worry what might happen if they go after the smaller organisations.

"But we will not lie down until our name is cleared."

So the BBC appears that while AIBA may have landed the first body blow but a united AIBA have come back fighting in Baku.

And with the powerful Wu at the helm, the BBC may also need a strong guard before the final bell sounds.

Tom Degun is a reporter for insidethegames