Dear AIBA Members,

I wanted to keep updating you on the situation within our organization, especially after the Extraordinary AIBA Executive Committee meeting that took place last week in the city of Geneva, Switzerland. For me it is very important that you are informed with the latest information, especially as there have been some media articles written and statements made with misleading information.

Among the various topics discussed last week were the following:

1) IOC joins AIBA Executive Committee

In discussions regarding the relations between AIBA and the IOC, including AIBA’s current status, the AIBA EC was fortunate to have two highly ranked representatives from the IOC on-hand during the EC, namely IOC Inquiry Committee Chair Mr. Nenad Lalovic and IOC Sports Director Mr. Kit McConnell. They provided the EC members with an overview of the roadmap for boxing in the Olympics but also the goodwill and good intentions of the IOC to collaborate with AIBA. As such, I will continue to have intensive contact with them and ensure that we keep moving forward. We all have one goal and that is to ensure that Olympic Qualifiers and Olympic Games run as smoothly as possible for our athletes and for our sport. Being able to keep boxing in the Games is very important to the boxing family and we must continue to work together to ensure that our sport has success in Tokyo 2020 and beyond.

2) A thanks to the past President 

On behalf of the AIBA Executive Board, we would like to express our gratitude and thanks to Mr. Gafur Rahimov for all the work he has done for our organization. During his time leading AIBA, he has greatly helped us avoid bankruptcy and reorganize the administration from previous mismanagement. While he has decided to make the selfless act of stepping aside in order to deal with his own personal issues, the EC has taken the decision to now remove Article 16 of the AIBA Bylaw, which previously set a 3-month deadline (before an Electoral Extraordinary Congress) for a President, after renouncing his powers and stepping aside, to return to his/her position. The EC members have agreed to communicate with Mr. Gafur Rahimov in order to reconfirm that his intention is not to return and to formalize this with a written resignation. The EC meeting also confirmed the date of the Extraordinary Congress that is tentatively planned for November 15, 2019 in Lausanne Switzerland, pending

financial resources. I would kindly request that you all already save this date in your calendars.

3) AIBA focuses on clearing financial issues 

A full update and report regarding AIBA’s financial situation was once again reviewed by the Executive Committee. Included as a priority was clearing outstanding debts of the organization, in particular those that have been weighing on the organization since 2011. I myself provided an overview of discussions being held with FCIT and Benkons, including the opportunities to clear these debts. AIBA EC member Mr. Wu Di also made an announcement to EC that FCIT is ready to remove the outstanding debts in order save AIBA.

4) Significant changes to AIBA administration

While AIBA has been avoiding bankruptcy for the last two years and seems likely to be able to overcome the outstanding debts, there is an urgent focus now on cash flow. In order to make some savings, a number of significant changes have been made including the reduction of staff. Unfortunately, we have had to say goodbye to a large number of the AIBA staff. However, from July 1, AIBA will continue to be run by three full-time staff and its Executive Director Mr. Tom Virgets. The creation of three task forces (Finance, Liaison and Congress) were put forth and approved by Executive committee to assist with the current situation.

5) AIBA Ethics Commission checks

In my recent note to you all, I mentioned that AIBA’s Ethics Commission will be following IOC guidance of re-doing a full background check on all Executive Committee members. This is being done because it seems that a number of AIBA officials provided false information about themselves and their background, thus making them ineligible candidates/members. The new AIBA is being built on the values of transparency, ethical behaviour and good governance, therefore to ensure that the proper due diligence is made, a full review of every EC member is being done. In this regard, the AIBA EC approved to pass to the AIBA Disciplinary Commission’s decision the report of the Ethics Commission on Mr. Umar Kremlev and Mr. Volodymyr Prodyvus (both on alleged criminal convictions in the past) and Mrs. Emilia Grueva (on unethical conduct). The AIBA Disciplinary Commission also took note of and added to his file case an unethical statement quoting falsehoods, made after the EC meeting in the press by Mr. Umar Kremlev regarding Mr. Gafur Rahimov.

6) AIBA to fight for Olympic future

Many of you have may have read a number of stories these days in the media about AIBA and our future. I would just like to say this, now more than ever is when we need to have a unified front and I myself find it unbelievable that some people put themselves and their personal agenda above our sport. Now is the time for us all to come together and work together as a unit, we have a long road ahead. The last years have been spent re-organizing and now it is time to renew our organization and

implement all the changes we have approved from last year’s congress and ratified by the EC. We must continue to fight for our Olympic future – it is time to work hard and work well together.

I look forward to keeping you all informed about the progress we make, and I encourage you to contact me directly for any questions you may have in the future. You can reach me at interimpresident@aiba.org

Dr Mohamed Moustahsane

AIBA Interim President

Share on Facebook

Tweet