The sky is clouding over for AIBA. Nothing very new. But with less than three years until the Paris 2024 Games, the Olympic future of the International Boxing Federation still seems compromised. The arrival of a new president, the Russian Umar Kremlev (photo above), launched at full speed since his election last year in a reform plan, does not change much.
The IOC is still not convinced. Worse: he expresses his worries and concerns out loud. Proof of the seriousness of the situation: the body published on its official website, Wednesday September 15, a letter sent to Umar Kremlev. It is signed by the hand of Christophe De Kepper, the general director.
The process is uncommon. Certainly, the IOC has never made a secret of its doubts about the reality of the progress made by the AIBA since its banning from the Olympic movement in June 2019. But it was content to express it verbally, most often by the voice of its president, Thomas Bach. This time, the Olympic body is making public a warning letter addressed to the president of AIBA. This is a serious time, therefore.
Christophe De Kepper details in his letter the areas of concern noted in the report of the IOC special steering committee on boxing, presented by Nenad Lalovic to the executive board. They consist of three points: governance, finances and arbitration. Anything but anecdotal.
On the question of governance, the IOC explains “ take note » of the adoption by AIBA of new statutes, including the creation of an ethics committee and a disciplinary committee. A step forward, suggests Christophe De Kepper. But the Belgian insists: “ Good governance should not be judged solely on rules, future projects or a brand change“. Clearly, texts will not be enough, they will have to be followed by actions. And there, the problem is, the IOC struggles to find them.
He notes in particular “ that no new leadership team among elected officials has been put in place to effectively integrate culture change into AIBA governance. » He also notes “ some overlap of competences regarding the current governance of AIBA“, pointed out in the conclusions of the report by Canadian Richard McLaren.
Regarding finances, the IOC explains that it wishes its independent expert, the audit firm EY (formerly Ernst & Young), to have access to all the documents likely to confirm that AIBA's debt has been paid off or is in the process of being paid off. be, and that the federation has really put in place a solid and credible financing plan.
Finally, the IOC is very skeptical about reforms to the judging system in AIBA competitions. The Olympic body explains having been “ informed of a number of complaints about the refereeing and judging system from participants at the AIBA World Junior Championships and Asian Championships which took place earlier this year"
The IOC also notes that in the revision of the AIBA arbitration and judging procedures for the next world championships, scheduled for Belgrade at the end of October 2021, “ we were unable to see any significant integration of the best practices from the IOC Boxing Working Group shared with AIBA in March 2021. »
Christophe De Kepper concludes his letter with this warning: “ Based on the above, the IOC Executive Board reiterated its deepest concerns and reaffirmed its previous position regarding the place of boxing in the program of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 and future editions of the Olympic Games."
A detail that is anything but insignificant: the director general of the IOC does not at any time, in his letter to Umar Kremlev, mention the term “president” when he refers to the Russian leader. He readily gives him “Dear Sir”, but without ever mentioning his presidential position. It seems that the Olympic body has never recognized his election at the head of the AIBA.
