The IBA rejects holding new elections and keeps the Russian Kremlin as president

The Congress of the International Boxing Association (IBA) refused on Sunday to hold new presidential elections and announced a vote of confidence in its current president, the Russian Umar Kremlev.

The body reported that its extraordinary congress meeting in Yerevan voted against holding new elections and keeping Kremlev as president for a four-year term.

Of the 146 votes of the national federations, 106 (75%) refused new elections, 36 voted in favor and abstained.

Following the approval of its meeting, the extraordinary congress of the IBA meeting in Armenia spoke this Sunday on the repeat of the presidential election held in May in Istanbul, which now has two candidates after re-accepting as an opponent Dutchman Boris van der Vorst. of the current leader, the Russian Umar Kremlev.

An internal board suspended Van der Vorst on the eve of the May election, saying he had committed irregularities during his campaign, so Kremlev, in office since 2020, was re-elected unopposed .

The Dutch went to the Court of Sports Arbitration (TAS), which proved him right. The IBA board of directors has convened an extraordinary congress to consult the assembly if it deems it necessary to vote again and, if necessary, to do so.

The venue for the congress was also controversial, as Van der Vorst, president of his country’s federation, wanted it to be in Lausanne (Switzerland), but the IBA granted the venue to Armenia.

The IBA is under investigation by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for its irregularities in arbitration and governance. It was suspended in 2019 and for the second time in a row the Olympic body will oversee the qualification process for the Games. For now, boxing is not included in the sports program of the Los Angeles 2028 edition.