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Beijing. The president of the International Olympic Committee on Friday welcomed an investigation by amateur boxing’s governing body into allegations that millions of dollars have been paid to guarantee Azerbaijan two gold medals in the ring at next year’s London Olympics.

The International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) said it will look into the allegations made by BBC television’s Newsnight on Thursday that $9 million from Azerbaijan was paid to World Series Boxing, a franchised league supported by AIBA.

“We welcome the inquiry by the AIBA and we have asked the BBC to provide evidence. ... We take every allegation very seriously,” IOC President Jacques Rogge told a news conference.

Since the allegations surfaced, AIBA President Wu Ching-kuo has denounced the BBC claims, calling them “totally untrue and ludicrous,” but added he would investigate them.

According to the BBC report, an Azeri national paid the money to a WSB competition.

After the program was broadcast, the AIBA issued a statement saying a loan to WSB had been made by “an Azerbaijani investor ... on a commercial basis and with a view to a commercial return for the investor.”

AIBA said it believed the allegations were made by individuals with an ax to grind and added that the claims “demonstrate a complete misunderstanding of the procedures which lead to the award of Olympic boxing medals and the impossibility of influencing these.”

The statement added: “Any suggestion that the loan was made in return for promises of gold medals at the 2012 Olympics is preposterous and utterly untrue.”

The BBC report cited unnamed “whistleblowers” and “insiders” as having told its reporters they had been informed about a deal by WSB’s chief operating officer Ivan Khodabakhsh. The program also said the money was needed by the WSB because it had run into financial difficulties in the United States.

Khodabakhsh denied the allegations as “an absolute lie.”

The BBC’s report comes just days before the World Amateur Boxing Championships begin on Monday in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Associated Press