Following the election of Umar Kremlev as the new President of the International Boxing Association (AIBA) on Saturday, the boxing body adopted its new Constitution with an overwhelming majority during the second day of its Congress meeting today with 98 votes in favor, 6 votes against and 26 abstentions. The principle objectives of the constitutional reform aim at improving democratic governance, transparency, efficiency and ethical oversight at AIBA in line with the recommendations of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The vote unrolled in a highly democratic manner to introduce a cultural change at AIBA, which promises to pave its way back to the Olympic family.  

 The new constitution will give more authority to National Federations, notably as the Presidents of Continental federations will be elected by the Congresses of Continental Confederations. The number of Board Members will be reduced from 32 to 22 with the vast majority representing Confederations. At least 6 Board Members have to be women; athletes are also represented at the Board.

The new Constitution also clarifies the tasks of AIBA’s corporate bodies and simplifies the structures within AIBA. The Ethics Commission has been granted an extended role. Several financial control mechanisms, including the creation of an internal audit body, have been approved by the Congress and will be implemented in the very near future.

Five amendments introduced by the Spanish Boxing Federation, England Boxing and US Boxing were passed, which further extend the powers of Confederations to organize training courses for referees and judges, etc. in addition to boxing competitions. The amendments also specify that only the Congress may dismiss members of the Ethics and Disciplinary Committees while limiting the terms of office for the AIBA President and Executive Committee members by taking into consideration the number of years previously served by such persons. They also ensure that the persons appointed by the AIBA Board of Directors and approved by the Congress to serve at the Ethics and Disciplinary Committees are recommended by a suitable independent body.  

On the occasion of the second day of the Congress, 130 delegates were participating in the vote out of 158 eligible delegates from National Delegations. The AIBA Congress was organized virtually with the help of the LUMI voting system this year. 

AIBA has changed its statutes in order to improve its governance, which has been criticized by the IOC. The constitutional reform process had been launched by AIBA even before it was suspended by the IOC in 2019.  

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