IBA President Umar Kremlev held a press conference with boxers in Paris to address key issues facing the boxing community.

President Kremlev touched on future events to be held in France, including IBA Champions’ Night in Paris and Lyon that are scheduled for 2024. ‘France is a wonderful country with huge history and Paris is a historic city as well. Not only do people come to compete here, but also to enjoy the beauty of the capital city. We also plan for more of our events to be held here, as well as lay a foundation for an IBA boxing academy and future IBA World Boxing Championships being held in France, which we will discuss soon with the French Boxing Federation and its leadership.’

He also commented on the CAS hearings in Lausanne, saying ‘We are not worried about that, we are more concerned about our boxers. Our lawyers are on top of that. We are concentrated on delivering the events for our athletes, while we are supporting their participation at the Olympic Games. The decision of the IOC Session was unfair, but we have legal experts to deal with that. If it doesn’t work with CAS, we have a higher court in Switzerland that we can refer to.’

IBA President explained why he chose the path of a sports administrator.

‘I used to be a boxer, and back then we had one pair of gloves for ten kids. We couldn’t afford a uniform for the competitions. Now, I want everyone to have this opportunity to pursue their dreams in boxing. I saw my friends were losing because of unfair judges’ decisions. Now, I want everybody to have an opportunity to win in fair fights. I will not let anyone breach the rules and make boxers suffer,’ the IBA President stated.

World and Olympic champion Estelle Mossely commented that she was excited about the future events in Paris and Lyon, and stressed the importance of what the IBA has been doing for its athletes.

‘I am a boxer, and I would like to say that in IBA there were very important and significant changes in terms of prize money. Many amateur athletes don’t have the means. This is an exceptional opportunity and of course, athletes that receive money can dedicate more time to the sport and achieve greater results. It is not only about athletes but also about coaches. These changes are positive and they originate from IBA,’ she said.

Three-time IBA World champion Sofiane Oumiha added, ’It is very special and astonishing what IBA does for us, the athletes. It meets our expectations and our needs and therefore we are capable of achieving great results. And we are trying to ensure that we do our best. The IBA is doing really great things for boxers because it sees what they want. We want to grow together.’

The full press conference can be viewed here.

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