Officials fixed results of boxing bouts at Rio Olympics

A system to manipulate the outcome of boxing matches by officials was in place at the Rio 2016 Olympics, an independent investigation has found.

Professor Richard McLaren, the head of the investigation commissioned by the sport's world governing body AIBA, said the "seeds had been sown" years before.

"Suspicious" bouts included defeats for Great Britain's Joe Joyce and Ireland's Michael Conlan.

The AIBA said it noted the investigation's reports with "concern".

The investigation also reported that qualifiers for the 2016 Games were the "practice ground" in which manipulation methods were "fine-tuned".

The investigation found there were two bouts that "caused the system to publicly collapse" - including the bantamweight quarter-final between Conlan and Vladimir Nikitin from Russia.

Conlan was the reigning world and European champion at the time, and his defeat led to public outcry after he had appeared to win the bout comfortably.

The other was the gold medal heavyweight match between Russia's Evgeny Tischenko and Kazakhstan's Vasily Levit.

The findings also call into question the final of the men's super heavyweight division between Joyce and France's Tony Yoka, in which Joyce won silver.

The investigation indicates there were approximately 11 bouts in total that were "suspicious" - and there "may be others".

"I'm delighted," Conlan told BBC Sport NI. "It's five years on and has been a long time coming. I didn't expect this to happen.

"The fact it has been done and my fight has been called up - it's not news to me but it's good news. It's a massive day for boxing and for Olympic sport.

"The black mark of Rio will always be there and I think if I hadn't said what I said and done what I did this probably wouldn't be happening now.

"I think it's a huge day for amateur boxing and especially for the guys who suffered in Rio, including myself. It is vindication."