Americas Boxing Leader Drops AIBA Presidential Bid

(ATR) Argentina boxing leader Osvaldo Bisbal says he will not become a candidate for the presidency of International Boxing Association AIBA.

He said up to a few weeks ago he was considering a run for the post.

"I do not think I'm ready for the moment to dedicate my life to AIBA," says Bisbal, president of the Boxing Confederation of the Americas and one of the vice presidents of the international federation, thus eligible to run for AIBA president.

"To what extent could I, from a financial point of view above all, rescue AIBA from the situation it is in?", wondered the South American boxing leader.

The election is set for November at the AIBA Congress in Moscow.

So far only one candidate, Kazakh Serik Konakbayev, has thrown his hat into the ring to face the current interim president of AIBA, Gafur Rakhimov.

Konakbayev is president of the Asian Boxing Confederation, vice president of AIBA and was a silver medalist at the 1980 Olympic Games.

Bisbal is confident that Rakhimov will officially announce his nomination at any time. The deadline for candidates is September 23. Suitors need the support of 20 national federations to be nominated.

A candidate from Europe could be announced in the coming days.

The election will determine the fate of boxing on the Olympic Games Program. The IOC has threatened to cut the sport from Tokyo unless changes are made at AIBA.

The IOC has suspended financial support to the federation and therefore to the national federations.

The IOC wants issues settled that involve financial problems, governance, judging and anti-doping control.

Throughout 2018 AIBA has adopted a series of measures in response to the demands of the IOC. But IOC President Thomas Bach is not satisfied and has requested a new report after the Congress.

The election of Rakhimov to a full term as AIBA President is a concern to the IOC. The Uzbek businessman is fending a U.S. Treasury Department designation as an individual linked to Russian organized crime.

Bisbal tells ATR that he believes he had sufficient support to stand for president.

"Many wanted me to aspire, among them many Europeans," he says. "I think my candidacy would have come true."

"But I made a decision about a month ago, after several meetings. I do not think it's my moment, because of the financial issue," he insists.

Bisbal did not want to speculate which candidate might be endorsed as a favorite from the Americas.

"América today is in stand by," he warns. "We are not going to make decisions yet, there is still time," he clarifies.

The decision is of such magnitude that Bisbal confirms that "every day" he is in contact with the national federations of the continent.

He estimates that by mid-October the Americas will "already have the decision" on who the region supports as the new president of AIBA.

Bisbal seemed to rule out a "block vote" against the announced position of "some islands of the Caribbean" that he did not identify.

For many it is unthinkable that boxing, one of the ancestral sports in the history of the Olympic Games and a sport that gives numerous small countries the chance to medal, is excluded from the Olympic Program.

According to Bisbal the IOC would not be transmitting "a good message" if it makes good on its threat to exclude Olympic boxing in relation to the outcome of the elections.

"Faced with such a decision of the IOC, I believe that immediately Gafur would resign to prevent this exclusion. It's my personal opinion," says Bisbal.

Reported by Miguel Hernandez.