DOHA (Qatar): European Boxing Confederation (EUBC) vice-president Umar Kremlev announced his candidacy for International Boxing Association (AIBA) president at an online press conference on Tuesday.
The election is scheduled at AIBA Congress on December 12-13, which will be held virtually due to the ongoing pandemic.
Kremlev, who is also a AIBA Executive Committee member, called for unity and reforms.
He presented his manifesto, with plans to pay off the millions of dollars in debt accumulated by AIBA under previous administrations.
“I will ensure that AIBA will no longer be burdened by debt. Boxing is one of the most popular sports in the world and many companies are interested in sponsoring it. The television rights to AIBA events are hugely attractive to broadcasters. Within one or two years, AIBA will attract $50 million in sponsorship. All this money will go towards the development of AIBA,” said Kremlev.
He laid out plans to provide annual funding of $2 million to AIBA’s national federations, and to set up boxing academies on each continent to train athletes, coaches, referees and judges.
Kremlev has made it his mission to develop boxing around the globe. Throughout his leadership of the Russian Boxing Federation, he participated actively in the organization of various international boxing tournaments, including the 2019 AIBA Men’s and Women’s World Championships, which was hosted by the cities of Ekaterinburg and Ulan-Ude in
Russia.
Kremlev is confident he can chart a clear path for AIBA to be reinstated by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in time for the Paris Olympics in 2024.
“AIBA is an independent sports organization. I will bring in transparency to our operations, not only for the IOC, but also to set a precedent for all international sports bodies. We have to be clean before everyone else,” said Kremlev.
