Today the International Boxing Association (IBA) Board of Directors held a hybrid meeting as members assembled in Algeria and online to discuss several key decisions, including the location of the forthcoming Extraordinary Congress. The Congress will be held on a date to-be-decided between 24 September and 1 October in Armenia, Yerevan and will be live streamed to allow online participation for those who are unable to attend in person.

‘After careful study of proposals from different countries BoD chose Armenia has as a host for the upcoming Congress. Armenia showed their great organizational skills during EUBC Elite Men’s Championships in May this year. Government support, accessibility and simplified visa process helped the country to win’, said IBA President Umar Kremlev.

The selection of host cities for boxing events in 2023 was also discussed at the board meeting, which included a presentation by the Spanish Boxing Federation on progress towards the 2022 IBA Youth World Boxing Championships in Alicante.

“There is healthy interest from well-qualified national federations to host these events, which highlights their confidence in the future of IBA,” added Mr. Kremlev. “A great amount of thought and detail goes into the selection process for our hosts, and we believe these cities offer the best environment for our athletes to compete in and for our officials to work in. I look forward to discussing this further with colleagues at the Extraordinary Congress.”

IBA also announced that the upcoming Strategy Committee, which will include IBA President Umar Kremlev, will see new members selected according to a carefully comprised skills map designed to identify the most eligible candidates. The recruitment process will also be reopened to candidates for Oceania in order to ensure proper continental representation.

A key priority for IBA over the past year has been to improve the sporting integrity of boxing events. Professor McLaren’s findings and recommendations have been and will continue to be important for IBA’s development in this area. As Professor McLaren highlighted, there are still issues surrounding manipulation of judges’ scorecards at National and Continental tournaments. The improvements made to the Technical Regulations will enhance IBA’s control of these events. While the standard of sporting integrity at the World Championships is much higher, IBA is still assessing new regulations to further develop the selection process of judges and referees.

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