ATR Extra: Call for Term Limits at AIBA

(ATR) USA Boxing and England Boxing team up to support term limits among four proposed amendments to the draft of new AIBA constitution.

The embattled international boxing federation will vote on a new constitution during a virtual congress Dec. 12-13. A new president will be elected on Dec. 12.

In a letter to Mohamed Moustahsane, interim AIBA president, dated Dec. 2, Mike McAtee, executive director of USA Boxing, and Gethin Jenkins, Chief Executive of England Boxing, moved that the four amendments be accepted.

In addition to term limits, the other amendments concern nominations, approvals and removals of members of the ethics committee and disciplinary committee.

McAtee and Jenkins wrote that they believe the statutes "represent the bare minimum required changes to the draft constitution to begin the process to fully address fundamental points raised in the Lalovic report" commissioned by the IOC, which suspended AIBA.

"If they are not implemented and given the recent comments from the IOC," McAtee and Jenkins continued, "then it would become extremely difficult to see how the IOC would accept them and therefore the statutes should be rejected at the congress as being insufficient in the levels of reform required by them."

In regard to term limits, according to the current draft statute, "Any term or terms of office previously served by the President or any other Director as a member of the former Executive Committee of AIBA shall not be taken into consideration in calculating the maximum number of terms of office which such person may serve on the board.

The United States and England move that such terms "shall be taken" into consideration, thus limiting how long top officials can stay in power.

Another proposed amendment concerns the power to dismiss members of the ethics committee and the disciplinary committee, if required. The original draft statute only mentioned the power to approve persons proposed by the board for appointment as members of the committees.

The final two proposed amendments discuss nominations and approvals to the ethics committee and disciplinary committee. The first calls for recruitment and recommendation of nominees by a "suitable independent body or bodies of high international standing".

In the event that the voting delegates of the national federations reject the appointment of anyone the board has proposed for membership on those committees, the USA and England moved that the board shall not simply appoint three members "whom it deems appropriately qualified until the next ordinary congress meeting".

Instead, the process of recruitment outlined in its other amendment should be followed until the next AIBA congress meeting or through ratification via the confederation congress meetings.

Written by Karen Rosen

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