The new Interim President of the International Boxing Association (AIBA), Gafur Rakhimov today pledged to bring transparency and good governance to AIBA in order to restore faith in the organization and show respect for Olympic values.
At the AIBA Extraordinary Congress in Dubai following his appointment, Rakhimov (pictured left) said: “We must work closely with National Federations and with the International Olympic Committee to restore confidence in AIBA’s financial management and in its integrity. This means greater transparency and improved corporate governance of AIBA.”
The boxing federation has been plagued by financial mismanagement and a lack of transparency, which led to the resignation in November of AIBA President CK Wu.
At the Extraordinary Congress on Saturday, Rakhimov – AIBA’s longest-serving Vice President – was named new Interim President, taking over from Franco Falcinelli.
Rakhimov said he would work together with Falcinelli to continue the work of reform and restructuring undertaken so far. Rakhimov said he had “great confidence in the talents of Franco Falcinelli”, who was named Executive Vice President and who will also be in charge of developing a New Foundation Plan for AIBA for 2018 and beyond.
Falcinelli, who managed to stabilize the organization over the last four months, welcomed Rakhimov’s appointment, calling him a great ambassador for the sport. “I’m confident that he will provide the leadership to restore AIBA to greatness,” Falcinelli said.
Rakhimov, meanwhile, said he was pleased to announce that progress was being made on issues relating to AIBA’s financial liabilities and that more information would be forthcoming in the near future.
“Now is the time for us all to unite,” Rakhimov said to over 250 delegates attending the Congress. “Our greatest responsibility must be to the millions of fans around the world who love boxing and want to be inspired by world-class boxing. We owe it to the fans to make boxing great again.”
Rakhimov also named Tom Virgets, current Chairman of the AIBA Disciplinary Commission, as AIBA’s new Executive Director.
The one-day meeting was attended by 109 National Federations, including USA, Russia, France, China, Brazil, South Africa and Cuba.
