Boxing authorities in America today stripped Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) of his world heavyweight title and suspended his boxing licence after he had refused to be inducted into the United States Army.

Clay had stood in line with 11 other men being called up in a room in the old Post Office building in Houston, Texas, and heard his Black Muslim name called by the officer administering the oath. Clay did not move. Another officer walked up to him and said: "Mr Ali, will you accompany me, please ?" Clay did not speak, but followed him out of the room to be given a warning of the consequences of his refusal.

He was taken back into the room and given a second chance to take the oath, but he again refused. He then signed a statement to that effect.

Soon after he left the centre, to be mobbed by well-wishers, the New York Boxing Commission, the World Boxing Association, and the Texas Boxing Commission withdrew their recognition of him as champion.

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At the same time a spokesman for the Justice Department said it would decide whether to ask a federal grand jury for an indictment. If an indictment were returned, Clay would have to go for trial. He could face a long prison sentence.

Clay issued a statement saying: "It is in the light of my consciousness as a Muslim minister and my own personal convictions that I take my stand in rejecting the call to be inducted. I do so with the full realisation of its implications. I have searched my conscience.

"I had the world heavyweight title not because it was given to me, not because of my race or religion, but because I won it in the ring. Those who want to take it and start a series of auction-type bouts not only do me a disservice, but actually disgrace themselves... Sports fans and fair-minded people throughout America would never accept such a title-holder."

The New York Boxing Commission, which suspended his licence, said his refusal to enter the service was detrimental to the best interests of boxing.

[Muhammad Ali was sentenced to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine, though he remained out on bail while he appealed. He was stripped of his passport and his heavyweight title and banned from fighting in the US. Ali returned to boxing in 1970 and his conviction was reversed in 1971]