RUSSIA’S UMAR KEMLEV IS the new president of the International Boxing Association (AIBA), winning the election on Saturday with 57.33% of the vote.
The election was held virtually at AIBA’s ongoing Congress due to the pandemic. It was attended by 155 national federations from five continents.
Following Kremlev’ election, AIBA adopted its new Constitution Sunday during the second day of its Congress, with 84 votes in favor, 25 votes against and 21 abstentions.
The AIBA Congress was organized virtually with the help of the LUMI voting system this year.
AIBA has changed its statutes in order to improve its governance, which has been criticized by the IOC. The constitutional reform process had been launched by AIBA even before it was suspended by the IOC in 2019.
The principle objectives of the constitutional reform aim at improving democratic governance, transparency, efficiency and ethical oversight at AIBA, in line with the recommendations of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The vote unrolled in a highly democratic manner to introduce a cultural change at AIBA, which promises to pave its way back to the Olympic family.
The new constitution will give more authority to national federations, notably as the presidents of continental federations will be elected by the Congresses of Continental Confederations. The number of board members will be reduced from 32 to 22 with the majority representing confederations. At least 6 board members have to be women; athletes are also represented at the board.
The new constitution also clarifies the tasks of AIBA’s corporate bodies and simplifies the structures within AIBA. The Ethics Commission has been granted an extended role. Several financial control mechanisms, including the creation of an internal audit body, have been approved by the Congress and will be implemented in the very near future.
Five amendments introduced by the Spanish Boxing Federation, England Boxing and US Boxing were passed, which further extend the powers of confederations to organize training courses for referees and judges, etc. in addition to boxing competitions. The amendments also specify that only the Congress may dismiss members of the Ethics and Disciplinary Committees while limiting the terms of office for the AIBA president and executive committee members by taking into consideration the number of years previously served by such persons. They also ensure that the persons appointed by the AIBA board of directors and approved by the Congress to serve at the Ethics and Disciplinary Committees are recommended by a suitable independent body.
“Let me make it clear: the path to rebuilding AIBA is not easy. It will not happen overnight. We have to unite together and work with one mission, and one mission alone: rebuilding the credibility and trust that AIBA once had in the minds of sports people worldwide and that includes, of course, restoring AIBA’s Olympic status,” Kremlev said, after winning the election.
Kremlev’s ambitious manifesto aims to pay off the millions of dollars in debt accumulated by AIBA under previous administrations.
“Getting rid of AIBA’s debt will be the first priority. As I promised when I announced my run for the presidency, I will clear this debt in the first six months. My administration will aim to raise $50 million within two years, all of which will be used to rebuild AIBA,” Kremlev told the AIBA Congress.
Kremlev has announced plans to provide annual funding of $2 million to AIBA’s national federations and to set up boxing academies on each continent to train athletes, coaches, referees, and judges.
Kremlev has made it his mission to develop boxing around the globe. As head of the Russian Boxing Federation since 2017, he participated actively in the organization of various international boxing tournaments, including the 2019 AIBA Men’s and Women’s World Championships.
Kremlev also launched the first Global Boxing Forum, which was first convened in early February 2018 in Sochi, Russia. It soon became a platform for an open dialogue between representatives of the world boxing community from more than 130 countries as well as heads of leading boxing organizations, athletes, Olympic champions, world champions, and promoters.
Kremlev is confident he can chart a clear path for AIBA to be reinstated by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in time for the Paris Olympics in 2024.
“Boxing is the sport of fighters. Our fight today is against financial debt, against incompetence, against corruption, against doping, against poor training, and against poor safety. Strengthening AIBA’s governance structures, and ensuring our checks and balances work, will be the focus of my tenure as president,” announced Kremlev.
