IBA President Umar Kremlev on the future of the de-recognized federation

The International Boxing Association (IBA) at the end of last week became the first sports federation in history to be stripped of recognition by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), effectively excluding it from its membership. This decision was the peak of a conflict that lasted several years between the two structures. IBA President Umar Kremlev told the correspondent “Kommersant” Alexey Dospekhovwhy his federation is not going to give up its leading role in world boxing despite the sanctions and what will be the development of its relationship with the IOC.

— What happened in the IBA in recent days? How did the structure react to the decision of the IOC session?

“Nothing extraordinary happened. In this situation, we are not the losers, the Olympic family is losing.

– You are somehow too calm, considering what was the outcome of the conflict with the IOC.

– Let’s clarify: we have no conflict and problems with the IOC, we have problems with some IOC officials who hold high positions and lobby for their political interests. We have fulfilled all the recommendations they gave us almost one hundred percent. We have reformed the IBA, carried out a rebranding, completely got rid of debts, and resolved issues with refereeing. Colossal work. We have already provided assistance with the development of boxing to more than fifty countries, annually we present grants to national federations: about $10 million has been spent on them alone. But there are members of the IOC who do not like that the president of the IBA is Russian. But few people don’t like it. The main thing is that national federations, athletes, coaches are happy. We held Congress twice, and twice it approved me for the presidency, so that no one would have any doubts about honesty and legitimacy.

– And yet the IOC did not take into account any of the achievements …

– This is a decision that cannot be called anything other than biased. They punished a truly independent sports federation, which has nothing to do with politics, does not deprive people, for example, of the flag and anthem (Last year, the IBA, contrary to the current recommendations of the IOC, allowed Russian and Belarusian boxers to compete in their competitions in a full-fledged status.— “b”). This is happiness for an athlete – to hear the anthem of his country, to see how its flag is raised. Why deprive them of the most sacred? It’s like taking away a child’s mother. Crime. And then, the International Boxing Association is not some private corporation, it is an international sports association. It should unite, act as a peacemaker in conflicts, and not punish athletes, acting at the behest of someone from outside … Today, the IBA is one of the best federations, one of the ten. At our main competitions, high prize money is set; they are not even supposed to be at the Olympics. We have solid gold medals, while world champions receive $500,000 each.

– And you have not abandoned plans to increase them in connection with recent events?

– They didn’t refuse. Our task is to make sure that the champions receive $ 1 million each … It is clear that we are a red rag for these officials from the IOC. How are we different from them? Yes, because we give everything we earn to the boxing community. IBA money belongs to national federations, athletes and coaches. The IOC, on the contrary, lives at the expense of athletes, pays gigantic salaries to functionaries at their expense. And the athletes don’t even have gold medals… It shouldn’t be like that. I am sure that the sports world is already waking up, already asking questions that are unpleasant for the IOC. Where does the colossal money that he earns at the Olympics go? Why don’t they belong to athletes? And I imagine how irritated these IOC people are when they look at us. But what can they do with an independent federation? Yes, just what they did last week.

– So you are convinced that there is no fault of the IBA in what happened?

– What fault? Remember, all the problems that we had, because of which the IBA once found itself in a crisis, they are from the past, from the time when the federation was led by IOC member Wu Jingguo. It was he who led her to bankruptcy. The national federations declared him a vote of no confidence, kicked him out in disgrace, eventually entrusted the management to me, and in fact to the boxers themselves, because we do not allow third parties to dictate terms to us. We protect athletes, we protect every country, ensuring that boxing becomes the main sport there. We carry out, in other words, our direct duties. And in fulfilling them, they faced a gross violation of the Olympic Charter. They broke their own rules! Moreover, they never even met, did not discuss the situation … They only threatened, for example, with the exclusion of boxing from the Olympic program.

But they didn’t rule it out…

– Yes, because boxing brings a lot of money. But someday, after all, people from the IOC will be asked: why are there only fees at the World Championships, and completely different at your Olympics? And we, I promise, will demand from them to give money to the athletes and make sure that the metal from which the medals are made corresponds to the name. We have the right to demand it. It is the IBA that develops boxing, it is we who corrected the wrongdoings of an IOC member who brought the federation to ruin. Why, by the way, these crimes are still carefully hidden? The leaders of the IOC, it turns out, are covering for their colleague?

– Many people told me that the expulsion of Wu Jingguo from the federation was almost the decisive factor that pushed, let’s say, the IOC to go to war with the IBA. Do you agree with this?

– Certainly. We have proven the manipulations that took place. They proved it with the help of completely independent experts – a group led by Professor Richard McLaren, by publishing the results of the investigation. The conclusion is unequivocal: Wu Jingguo is to blame for everything. The IOC, of ​​course, was furious. And instead of admitting the obvious, he chose to remain silent.

– You somehow do not worry at all about the consequences of deprivation of recognition?

– Look at the story. All the federations with which the IOC had conflicts only became stronger. Football, volleyball, basketball, tennis. Yes, there are many such associations that do not depend on the IOC, but on themselves. This is how others should act. You can’t dance to someone else’s tune.

– But recognition, for the sake of justice, has not yet been deprived of anyone, you are the first.

“So we are destined to be the ones to change the system. It is clear that there will be lengthy legal proceedings. But we intend to defend our position, defend our rights and honor.

– And where will you defend them? Doesn’t it make sense to apply to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, having already rejected one appeal?

– No, CAS has not rejected our claim yet, but only denied interim measures. We appealed the decision of the IOC Executive Board, and the other day we also appealed the decision of the IOC session. Both are currently under appeal. The case in CAS will drag on for a long time, but if we do not find justice there, then we will go further – to the Swiss Supreme Court and European instances, until we get the truth.

– Do I understand correctly that, despite the decision of the IOC, are you sure that the national federations will remain loyal to the IBA?

– I’m sure that we will keep the line-up anyway. Look here: the American Boxing Federation has announced that it is leaving. But there are already five applicants who want to create an association to enter the IBA instead of her. Roy Jones, for example, said that he was creating his own organization. Other boxers call and ask: how to get accreditation, what are the conditions for entry? We will replace all federations leaving the IBA. A holy place is never empty. Who today takes care of boxers, provides them with prizes and conditions for training? IBA. The IOC is only skimming the cream off ready-made athletes. Filmed by political officials, from whom the Olympic family must be freed. She, unfortunately, is not free. Yes, take at least the vote that took place on Thursday. The IOC has one hundred members, seventy participated. How can that be? Also, watch the voting video. Nobody even asks questions. From the outside, it looks like everyone was informed about the decision in advance. Everyone is afraid to say something. Because if you object, Thomas Bach and his team will immediately begin to attack this person. They only want convenient members. In 2025, there will be elections to the leadership of the IOC. I think that professional people will still come there. Maybe we don’t even need courts.

– Well, then what about the news about the Asian Boxing Confederation, which is convening an extraordinary congress to leave the IBA? A whole huge continent is leaving.

— I repeat: there are national federations. Their opinion and the opinion of boxers matters. Some of the leaders of the Asian Confederation decided that it was necessary to part with the IBA. Well, well, let them hold their congress. But representatives of the boxing community from Asian countries want to stay in the IBA in order to move forward with it. And they will remain. Only honest, worthy people will be in the IBA, aimed not at conflicts, but at unification and development.

— What is the current situation with IBA with sponsorship and partnership agreements? I suspect that the IOC sanctions have complicated it.

— We have not yet signed a major player.

— Do you mean instead of Gazprom?

– Yes. But negotiations are underway. In the near future we will make announcements on sponsorship contracts. You are right: statements from the IOC at least do not help in the search for partners. But there is a nuance. We now earn a lot of money through the sale of advertising and television rights. The World Championship in Tashkent with a record number of participants in this sense was very successful. It is thanks to such sales that we provide prize money. It seems to me that the IBA does not even need a title sponsor if the demand for our main tournaments continues.

— Does the World Cup brand belong to the IBA? With this, there can be no questions?

– Can not.

– The IBA statement, published shortly after the session at which she was expelled from the IOC, lists several very acute, as you called them, requirements for this structure: to reveal to the public the crimes of Wu Jingguo, the corruption system that existed in the federation under him. Do you really expect answers to them or are they rhetorical questions?

Why rhetorical? We will insist on their implementation through the courts. Let’s say, on the same payments to boxers of the income received by the IOC thanks to them.

I still want to clarify. Do you really have no doubts that the IBA will not fall apart, that national associations will not start fleeing?

– In recent days, representatives of the boxing community have constantly contacted me. And everyone said that we are ready to defend independence together with the IBA. Almost all national federations sent letters of support.

– What, for example, federations?

– Listen, well, I’ll name ten countries for you – it turns out that I treated the rest ugly.

But “almost all” is how much?

– 90 percent. Of the 204 countries that are part of the IBA.