Asia and UAE boxing chief Anas Al Otaiba announces AIBA presidency bid

Amateur boxing's global governing body will decide its next president during a virtual congress in December

Anas Al Otaiba is bidding to become the next permanent president of the AIBA. Courtesy UAE Boxing Federation

Asian and UAE boxing chief Anas Al Otaiba has announced he will contest to become International Boxing Association’s (AIBA) new president when elections are held December 12-13.

Amateur boxing's global governing body has been without a permanent president since Uzbekistan's Gafur Rakhimov stood down in March 2019.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) stripped the AIBA of its right to organise boxing tournaments at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games following controversy surrounding Rakhimov and allegations of financial mismanagement at the organisation.

“The IOC suspended AIBA for many reasons, including improper management in administration, lack of corporate governance and financial mismanagement,” Al Otaiba said while announcing his candidacy for the AIBA presidency in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.

“As we reached this tipping point, we need to work harder, smarter and with agility by seizing the last opportunity of AIBA’s rebirth provided by IOC.

“In view of that, I have decided to run for the AIBA presidency after vigorous consultations with a lot of national federations from all over the world."

Al Otaiba, 44, is president of both the Asian Boxing Federation and UAE Boxing Federation, and is an executive committee member of AIBA.

“We want federations who care only for the development of boxing and the boxers,” the Emirati said. “Our responsibilities will be defending the rights of the athletes, and look after the needs and demands of the national federations.

"We want to preserve the long heritage of AIBA as the representative of one of the first Olympic sports ever.”

Al Otaiba has launched his bid for AIBA’s top post after Azerbaijan's Suleyman Mikayilov and Dominican Republic's Domingo Solano went public with their campaigns. Russia's Umar Kremlev is also expected to announce his contention.

The AIBA Ordinary Congress was originally scheduled for Budapest, but a spike in Covid-19 cases in the Hungarian capital has led to travel restrictions and moved the event to a virtual platform.

The AIBA members will elect a new president and vote for the new constitution of the organisation at the Congress. The new president will replace AIBA’s interim president, Mohamed Moustahsane, who was elected following the resignation of Rakhimov.