NEWSLETTER by EUBC President Franco Falcinelli April 2021

AIBA European Boxing Academy is to be launched in Assisi

Yesterday in the Town Hall of Assisi, EUBC President Franco Falcinelli and AIBA President Umar Kremlev signed an agreement, which started creation of AIBA European Boxing Academy. This process is an integral part of the renewal of AIBA and Olympic boxing, which has left an indelible mark on the history of the sport with its inimitable champions.

The AIBA President received a warm welcome from the local and national political and sporting authorities. Both in the private meeting with the Mayor of Assisi and in the official presentation of the project, his words aroused interest and admiration for the ethical and social contents that Olympic boxing will work for with new generations under his leadership.

At the signing of the agreement were present the Mayor of Assisi Stefania Proietti, Italian Boxing Federation President Flavio d’Ambrosi, honorary Italian Boxing Federation President Vittorio Lai, Secretary General Alberto Tappa, Vice President Fabrizio Baldantoni, Regional President CONI General Domenico Ignozza, Olympic Champion Roberto Cammarelle, Italian Boxing Federation Public Relations Manager Michela Pellegrini and representatives of the Municipality of Assisi, Veronica Cavallucci, Massimo Paggi, Alberto Capitanucci.

Umar Kremlev is showing to be a Leader who deeply believes in the future of Olympic boxing and considers the development of a new sports culture a top priority for the revival of world boxing.      

The recent sponsorship agreement between AIBA and Gazprom is a historic contract between a giant of the world economy and our International Association which testifies the respect for new leadership of AIBA and emphasizes its credibility and certainty of overcoming the financial problems that the IOC places among the primary conditions for Olympic recognition.

 It is for this reason that AIBA has the undeniable task of promoting the development of a more widespread and modern sporting culture. Hence the need to recover this deep gap which has been completely neglected for too many years. Modern systems of technical, methodological and didactic preparation to produce future stars of the ring.

The terms of the European Boxing Academy Agreement are rather stringent.

AIBA undertakes, inter alia:

• AIBA intends to improve general education level of boxing family and to train boxers and qualified specialists in different boxing area, including Coaches, Referees and Judges, Managers, ITOs, etc.;
• The Academy is stablished on the basis of the Foundation as non-commercial and non-government organization, and this form shall not be changed within the term of the Agreement without approval of AIBA;
• Recognize the Academy and participate in the Academy’s activity;
• Develop educational programs and provide these programmes to the Academy, ensure further improvement of these educational programs;
• Appoint a person from the AIBA Head Office to be responsible for cooperation with the Academy and to ensure that educational programs provided by AIBA are duly implemented;
• Use the Academy as a venue for AIBA official events, involve the Academy in the active life of world boxing.

The European Boxing Academy Foundation undertakes, inter alia:

• Operate the Academy in a good faith in order to meet high standards of AIBA;
• Do not damage the reputation of AIBA and the boxing, conducting all its marketing activities in accordance with AIBA regulations and directives;
• Properly conduct financial activity of the Academy, preventing any violations of the law, such as fraud, corruption, money laundering, etc.;
• AIBA students should have priority over other students when passing the educational programs.

The European Boxing Academy will also pay particular attention to the future of athletes in harmony with the AIBA.

The priority task of sports managers is to foster the fulfilment of the dreams and expectations of boxers who, with commitment and sacrifice, dedicate the best years of their lives to sporting ideals and the prestige of their homeland. 

The European Boxing Academy, again on the recommendation of AIBA, will have the task of preparing sports managers of national and international level who can promote an adequate organizational system and more efficiently find the resources to create events of great media interest and spectacular interest.

President Kremlev also believes in human relationships and familiarizes himself with our world like no one ever. In every part of the world where he goes he never neglects the contact with our most precious heritage: the boxers.

Before leaving back to Moscow he had an open training session with the boxers of the Italian National Team, including 6 rounds of conditional sparring with Roberto Cammarelle – Olympic Champion in Beijing and Sumbu Kalambay – former WBA World Champion – demonstrating good technical abilities. But the goal was that to make athletes understand that the President of AIBA is one of them. It was a strong message for everyone.

Competitions in Europe:

Regarding the competitive side of our Continent, I would like to express my deep congratulation to AIBA and Polish Boxing Federation for an excellent organization of the AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships, taking place in Kielce. It is the first AIBA World Championships organized during the COVID-19 pandemic and a lot of important work was done in order to guarantee maximum safety measures to delegations and officials. Despite this difficult moment, Kielce welcomed 414 boxers from 52 nations and I am happy to highlight that 32 delegations are part of our continent. I am sure that following strict application of the anti-Covid protocol, we are able to guarantee the conduction of the Championships in safety and I wish good luck to all participating boxers.

Five international tournaments were held in March:

1 – 7 March: International Boxing Tournament BOXAM (Castellon, Spain)

8 – 14 March: 5^th international boxing Tournament Emil Jechev Memorial (Sofia, Bulgaria)

9 – 14 March: XVI Danas Pozniakas Youth Tournament (Vilnius, Lithuania)

10 – 14 March: Cologne Boxing World Cup (Cologne, Germany)

15 – 21 March: International Istanbul Bosphorus Boxing Tournament (Istanbul, Turkey)