Gafur Rakhimov became Interim President of the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA). Rakhimov, vice-president of AIBA, a 66-year-old citizen of Uzbekistan, was appointed new Interim president on Saturday, January 27, at an extraordinary congress in Dubai (UAE). He will be replaced by Franco Falcinelli, who worked in this position since November last year. The permanent president of AIBA will be elected at the congress of the association in November 2018 in Moscow.

The International Boxing Association (AIBA) named its longest-serving Vice President Gafur Rakhimov as its new Interim President on Saturday. He was appointed according to the statues of AIBA, following the unexpected resignation of Interim President Franco Falcinelli at the Extraordinary Congress held in Dubai. It was attended by 109 National Federations, including USA, Russia, France, China, Brazil, South Africa and Cuba.

The one-day Congress was called to address allegations of mismanagement under former president CK Wu. A vote to name Wu as Honorary President was rejected by an absolute majority.

Interim President Rakhimov pledged to restore financial stability and transparency to AIBA.

“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,” he said. “This means greater transparency and improved corporate governance of AIBA, together with independent audits that are conducted in the light of day and not hidden from the AIBA Executive Committee and NFs as happened last year.”

Mr Falcinelli congratulated Mr Rakhimov’s confirmation as Interim President by the AIBA Executive Committee. “He is a great ambassador for our sport. I am confident that he will provide the leadership to restore AIBA to greatness,” Mr. Falcinelli said.

“Now is the time for us all to unite,” Interim President Rakhimov said to the 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.”