A US District Court did not find in favour of Gafur Rakhimov ©Getty Images

Former International Boxing Association (AIBA) President Gafur Rakhimov has failed in his bid to be removed from a United States Treasury Department sanctions list.

Rakhimov brought a complaint to the US District Court for the District of Columbia, centred on three counts.

A summary judgement found in favour of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on two counts and dismissed the other without prejudice. 

Rakhimov claimed placing him on the Specially Designated Nationals List (SDN) was "arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law", that his Fifth Amendment rights under the US Constitution had been violated and that the designation was "not in accordance with the law" because he was not provided "with adequate and fair notice of the information and reasoning relied upon to support their designation".

The claim his Fifth Amendment rights had been violated was dismissed as Rakhimov's "own pleadings and submissions fail to allege the existence of even a single piece of his property in the United States".

In ruling in favour of the OFAC on the other two counts, the court found that "the agency compiled substantial unclassified evidence supporting its conclusion that he was involved in transnational criminal activities" in additional to classified evidence and "has provided Rakhimov with a sufficient basis for understanding his initial designation."

Gafur Rakhimov resigned as AIBA President last year to challenge his place on a sanctions list ©Getty Images
Gafur Rakhimov resigned as AIBA President last year to challenge his place on a sanctions list ©Getty Images

Rakhimov was AIBA President for 18 months before formally resigning in July of last year.

He had stepped aside four months beforehand.

AIBA was stripped of its recognition as the Olympic governing body for the sport during his tenure, which came after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had warned Rakhimov not to run for President.

The IOC launched an investigation in response, due to concerns over finances, governance and judging, the conclusion of which was to not allowing AIBA any involvement in the boxing tournament at Tokyo 2020.

An IOC taskforce is instead overseeing the competition.

Rakhimov was placed on the SDN in 2012 by the OFAC after it concluded he was a "key member" of an international crime syndicate and "one of Uzbekistan’s leading criminals". 

As a result, many deemed him unsuitable to lead AIBA.

The Uzbekistani has always maintained his innocence and vowed to have his name removed from the SDN, so the latest ruling is blow.

In his letter of resignation last July, Rakhimov claimed to still be "faithful" to boxing and "available if my possible help is needed."