World Boxing to hold inaugural Congress in Frankfurt in November
World Boxing has announced that it will hold an inaugural Congress in Frankfurt on November 24 and 25.
The breakaway organisation was formed in April as a rival to the International Boxing Association (IBA), which has since been expelled by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
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A group of 16 countries have so far defected from the IBA to World Boxing which has the aim of becoming the new Olympic federation for the sport.
The Congress in Frankfurt will be held at the German city’s Mainarcaden and include the organisation’s first elections.
Votes will be held for a President, vice-president and places on the Executive Board.
Chairs for the Sport and Competition Committee, Medical and Anti-Doping Committee and Finance and Audit Committee will also be decided.
All of World Boxing’s National Federations will be able to take part in the elections, with 40 nominations already received across the various positions, it is claimed.
Candidates are currently being assessed by an independent vetting panel with a final list due to be published next month.
World Boxing’s members will have two or three votes depending on their compliance with the voting rules detailed in the organisation’s statutes.
The elections will be overseen by an “experienced, independent, third-party organisation”, the body promised.
“Hosting its inaugural Congress and holding open, fair and transparent elections will be a significant milestone in the evolution of World Boxing and demonstrate that the organisation is delivering on its commitment to the principles of integrity, honesty and excellence,” said World Boxing secretary general Simon Toulson.
“We have a number of excellent candidates and the support we have received from high calibre National Federations to participate in the Congress is a clear indication of the desire for change and determination to deliver a better future that exists across international boxing.”
World Boxing said Frankfurt had been chosen for the Congress as it is known as the cradle of democracy in Germany.
The first freely-elected Parliament for all German states first sat there in 1848.
“By holding its first elections in a city which is so historically linked to the principles of democratic process, we aim to send out a strong signal about the way that World Boxing will operate and the values that it stands for as an organisation,” Toulson added.
The IBA was expelled from the Olympic Movement at an Extraordinary IOC Session in June.
It came after the IBA was initially suspended by the IOC in 2019 for issues with finances, governance and the credibility of boxing competitions.
An IOC report on the IBA’s situation concluded that the body run by Russian President Umar Kremlev had failed to fulfil the conditions set out for lifting the suspension.
There were also concerns with Kremlev’s decision to allow Russia and Belarus to compete under their own flags, despite the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.