ATR Extra: Comparing AIBA Presidential Candidates' Manifestos

(ATR) Candidates to lead the international boxing federation make their final push for election as voting nations compare manifestos.

Among the seven contenders, five have released their platforms, with Suleyman Mikayilov of Azerbaijan providing the most detailed vision and strategic plan in 82 pages. Ramie Al-Masri of Germany has the shortest at two pages.

Anas Al-Otaiba of United Arab Emirates, Umar Kremlev of Russia, and Boris van der Vorst of the Netherlands also have published manifestos, some in various languages on their websites, and have sent them to national federations for their consideration.

No formal manifestos in English have been released by Mohamed Moustahsane of Morocco, the current AIBA leader, and Domingo Solano of Dominican Republic.

The election will be held Dec. 12 during a virtual congress.

Here is a comparison of some of the crucial points within the five available manifestos:

Mikayilov offers a plan of "Deep Changes". He will launch a "New Vision Committee" to implement reform with external, independent experts regardless of the decision on the proposed Constitution amendments. Van der Vorst will initiate a reform process if the national federations do not approve the proposed new Constitution and amendments and will call for a virtual congress within four months. Al-Masri proposes third-party due diligence and background checks, with no specific timetable.

Mikayilov also plans to restructure the organization from five confederations to eight confederations. He will develop a nomination system to appoint new members of the Executive Committee or the Board and all commissions, relocate the headquarters to a city between Lausanne and Geneva to reduce the costs of administration, and hire a new executive director and all new professional staff with a gender balance.

Kremlev aims to optimize the organization of events, including revision and modernization of the AIBA Event Operational Manual and standardization of the competition schedule. He touts the introduction of large international tournaments such as The Global Boxing Cup scheduled for Russia next year and will build AIBA Boxing Academies on each continent. He also will launch innovative educational programs using digital platforms and will create Veterans, Champions and Coaches Councils.

Van der Vorst seeks to hire top sports management professionals for the higher staff positions via open hiring policies while also outsourcing many roles to capable people around the world to reduce employee turnover. He will expedite the digitalization of AIBA with a digital sport management platform. Event hosts will be assigned at least two years in advance and a calendar will be coordinated with national federations and confederations to set the schedule in stone for a quadrennial period. Reasonable standards will be developed for all major events and a sustainable business model will be adopted where host fees are reduced considerably.

Al Otaiba wants to minimize operational costs without reducing efficiency and calls for decentralization.

Al-Masri plans to reduce costs by extending the use of software in daily work "so that people are less occupied with doing stupid work that a machine can do better and faster." He also would consider a move of headquarters to reduce costs and said AIBA must identify the most expensive posts "and try to reduce them.

While all of the candidates recognize a need to improve the integrity level within the organization, few lay out specific plans. Mikayilov stresses the need to establish an education program called the "Boxing Integrity Solution," while van der Vorst proposes a comprehensive strategic plan based on integrity, respect and inclusiveness.

Finance is a key issue for the embattled organization, whose assets have been frozen following its suspension by the International Olympic Committee.

Mikayilov has a plan to clear debts within 100 days of election, which includes funding from the United Boxing Alliance as AIBA’s main reform partner. He said the UBA will generate revenues. Kremlev also plans to clear all debts, but does not mention his method of doing so in the manifesto. In a press conference, he said he would clear debts immediately, but did not disclose the source.

Al Otaiba vows to solve the debt issue within a year. Van der Vorst said he will show that "finances is not the main issue for AIBA" and said he is "convinced that AIBA’s creditors will positively respond to changes in the management style that I will implement and will be willing to re-negotiate their agreements openly to allow faster recovery for AIBA."

Al-Masri said he believes if AIBA manages to restore its IOC membership, "a respectable amount of our debts can be repaid immediately." He hopes to negotiate with sponsors to convert debts partly to some kind of sponsorship to reduce the amount of money owed.

The IOC has been keen on gender equity within all sports, and this week announced that the program for 2024 Olympic Games in Paris would have seven events for men and six for women with an equal number of male and female participants.

Mikayilov plans "aggressive action" for gender equality in AIBA governance and will launch a task force, new initiatives for improving gender equality in boxing and competitions and a youth women boxing camp in national federations. "From now on, we should also try to get an equal balance participation of both genders in all competitions," he wrote.

Al Otaiba said he plans to increase the number of competitions for women by 50 percent, allocate 30 percent of official positions during activities to women and start an education program.

Van der Vorst said he will work to encourage inclusiveness and gender equality. Kremlev does not mention gender or women in his eight-page manifesto and neither does Al-Masri in his two pages.

Written by Karen Rosen

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