ABAE suspended from all AIBA tournaments due to serious breach and violation of rules
Boxing Evolution received the following statement from AIBA.
“Lausanne, Switzerland, August 12, 2013 – On July 18th 2013, the International Boxing Association (AIBA) Executive Committee unanimously decided to provisionally suspend the Amateur Boxing Association of England (ABAE) for serious breaches of the AIBA Statutes/Bylaws and in particular, for the ABAE Board’s decision to disallow WSB Boxers from competing in the English National Championships, which is contrary to the AIBA Technical & Competition Rules. By challenging the AIBA program, ABAE has seriously damaged its own boxers’ interests. Therefore, the case has been referred to the AIBA Disciplinary Commission for further decision. The provisional suspension, whilst prohibiting the participation of all ABAE Boxers, coaches, officials in future AIBA and Confederation Competitions, was put in place in order to protect the interests of the ABAE Boxers.
The AIBA President regrets the impact this suspension will have on the boxers’ preparations for AIBA Competitions. Thus, it is his sincere wish that the Disciplinary Commission expedite this case and proceed to resolve the matter as soon as possible, whilst taking into account the best interests of the boxers. It is hoped that a final decision will be made very soon so that, if possible, boxers shall be able to compete in the AIBA Junior World Boxing Championships starting on September 5 in Kiev, Ukraine.
However, most importantly, it is hoped that ABAE shall realize the mistakes which it has made and the damage it has caused to its own boxers and coaches and convey their determination to reform their organization in order to receive full support from AIBA. AIBA understands that Sport England and UK Sport have also put strong measures in place in order to enforce ABAE’s reform.”
The ABAE has released the following statement in response to their suspension on their website.
“This communique provides an update on the status of the provisional suspension placed on the ABAE by AIBA and details the efforts we are making to have this removed and return to a situation where English boxers at all levels are able to compete in AIBA sanctioned tournaments.
Following the imposition of the suspension on 25 July 2013, the ABAE has compiled a detailed and thorough response to the complaint filed by AIBA against it. On Friday 2 August 2013 we submitted a 60-page response to the Chair of the AIBA Disciplinary Commission which we believe sets-out a comprehensive and compelling case for the suspension to be lifted with immediate effect. The deadline for submissions to the Committee passed on Monday 5 August 2013 and a decision is expected soon after.
The response from the ABAE is made-up of a 15-page submission and 45 pages of supporting evidence, including a detailed audit trail of activities undertaken by the ABAE and our efforts to ensure that AIBA was fully-updated on all of these. It has been compiled with the assistance of legal advisors and in the full-knowledge of important sporting stakeholders that have an interest in the outcome of this process.
The response addresses the two central complaints of the suspension: the non-participation of English boxers from the World Series of Boxing in the 2013 ABAE National Championships and the alleged failure of the ABAE’s governance arrangements to reflect AIBA statutes and bylaws.
It provides a catalogue of supporting evidence and materials to demonstrate that on both of these issues the ABAE has at all times acted in good faith, has always endeavoured to act transparently and maintain a dialogue with AIBA and has never deliberately or knowingly breached AIBA’s rules. Indeed, the ABAE does not believe it has breached any rules on either of these issues; if it has been adjudged to, then any breach was inadvertent and not damaging to AIBA or the sport of boxing.
Throughout this process the number one priority of the ABAE has been to have the suspension lifted and ensure that English boxers at all levels are able to compete internationally. We believe that excluding English boxers from competitions whilst this disciplinary process is on-going is an unnecessary measure that merely serves to punish young boxers who have done nothing wrong.
With the support of the British Olympic Association (BOA), the ABAE requested that the ban on English boxers be lifted to enable our schoolboys to compete in the recent European Championships, however sadly this was not accepted. We hope that by providing such a detailed and thorough response to the AIBA Disciplinary Commission that we will soon be able to reverse the suspension and return to a situation where English boxers are not excluded from participating in any international competitions.”
The issue here appears to be that of WSB boxers not being allowed to compete in the ABAE national championships… The WSB ‘World Series of Boxing’ is a new initiative set up by AIBA to enable boxers to compete in a professional manner and get paid whilst still being able to box for their country in the Olympics.
BE is currently in the process of trying to get in contact with a representative of the ABA to find our their side of the story and to understand why they do not want WSB boxers competing in their tournaments.
Please let us know your thoughts on the matter.