BBC alleges $10m Olympic gold medal bribe

The International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) is to mount an inquiry into allegations that one of their officials offered a guarantee of two London Olympic gold medals to Azerbaijan in return for $10m (£6.4m) to help bail out an event run under AIBA's auspices.

The BBC claims to have uncovered evidence that payment has already been made to World Series Boxing by an Azerbaijani national. WSB is run by AIBA. According to BBC sources within amateur boxing, the head of the WSB said the funds to bail out the struggling event had been garnered with the promise of securing two boxing golds for Azerbaijani fighters at next year's games.

The judging for the boxing tournament is overseen by AIBA, the sport's global governing body, and has been the subject of controversy at past Games. Lawyers for AIBA have rejected the accusations as "preposterous and utterly untrue". Dr Ching-Kuo Wu, the AIBA president, said the claims were "totally untrue and ludicrous". But Dr Wu has nevertheless instigated an immediate inquiry into the allegations made on BBC's Newsnight.

Boxing's world championships – which is also an Olympic qualifying tournament – begins this weekend in Baku. The event was moved to the Azeri capital from the original choice of Busan, South Korea, last year.