Sports: Opponents claim IBA did not have all information when awarding Congress to Armenia

Aug 23 2022

Opponents are continuing to call on the International Boxing Association (IBA) to move the upcoming Extraordinary Congress from Armenia, claiming the Board of Directors did not have "complete and accurate information" from an investigation at a competition in the country.

The Common Cause Alliance (CCA) – a group of boxing administrators saying their goal is to keep the sport in the Olympic Games – have sent another letter to the IBA, relating to the Richard McLaren investigation into the Men's European Boxing Championships.

It said the event should not have been awarded to the country when the Armenian Boxing Federation (ABF) and European Boxing Confederation (EUBC) Board of Directors are subject to an ongoing investigation.

Boris van der Vorst, the Dutch Boxing Federation (NBB) President and IBA Presidential challenger to incumbent Umar Kremlev, is part of this group of critics; although he did not sign the letter.

Jeroen van den Berg, vice-president of the NBB, did sign the letter.

ABF is one of the National Federations (NFs) alleged to have influenced referees and judges at the European Championships, as well as intrusions on the field of play.

It also said the EUBC worked outside of their Constitutional Authority by overriding the direct authority of competition officials.

The CCA also called for the IBA Board of Directors to vote by email to approve the minutes of its meeting in Algiers on July 15, where discussions were held over Yerevan becoming the host of the Extraordinary Congress.

Previously the IBA said the European Championships investigation was "not connected with the host city of Yerevan, but with the officials who worked at the competition", stating it would not affect the running of the Congress.

CCA called this "inaccurate and misleading", saying the ABF and the EUBC were under investigation.

Host nations usually organise events through their NFs.

The IBA declined to comment on the most-recent letter from the CCA when approached by insidethegames.

The IBA Extraordinary Congress is scheduled to take place in Yerevan on September 25, with this being arranged after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) found that van der Vorst and three Board candidates should have been deemed eligible to stand for election.

They were sanctioned on the eve of the first Extraordinary Congress in Istanbul in May by the Boxing Independent Integrity Unit, meaning Kremlev stood unopposed for re-election.

When the CAS made its ruling, the IBA announced another Congress would take place for the Presidency.

Van der Vorst had previously called for the event to take place in Lausanne, but this request has not been repeated in the latest letter.

The IBA stated it would not move from Yerevan as preparations were already fully underway for staging the Congress in the Armenian capital.

https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1127271/iba-boxing-extraordinary-congress