Big Changes at AIBA -- Photodesk

(ATR) New statutes and a new interim president are major changes to Olympic boxing that came from the federation’s Extraordinary Congress.

The congress took place on Jan. 27 at the Ritz Carlton in Dubai where more than 220 delegates from 109 National Federations gathered to learn about the federation’s transition over the past several months.

Former International Boxing Association interim president Franco Falcinelli led the full congress but submitted his resignation after an opening report about his months leading AIBA. Falcinelli stepped in to help seize control of the federation from former president CK Wu who resigned in November as a result of a series of bad financial deals that nearly led to AIBA’s insolvency.

Several statutes pertaining to the governance of the federation were changed to reduce the powers of the president and increase the importance of the Executive Committee. These changes seek to ensure these problems won’t happen again.

Executive Committee member Pat Fiacco detailed the issues that led to Wu’s resignation before a vote on the nomination of Wu as an honorary president was held. The nomination was unanimously denied.

After a lunch break, it was announced that AIBA’s most senior vice president Gafur Rakhimov would become the next interim president. Rakhimov addressed the congress in Russian and will lead the federation until a presidential election can be held at the Nov. 2-3 Congress in Moscow.

The congress also featured debate between the International Olympic Committee represented by sports director Kit McConnell and AIBA executives regarding the reduction of men’s Olympic weight categories for the Tokyo 2020 Games.

Click here for photos from the Extraordinary Congress in Dubai.

Written by Kevin Nutley

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