Umar Kremlev is leaving a trail of gas behind him

At the end of 2020, the International Boxing Association (IBA) was headed by the Secretary General of the Russian Boxing Federation Umar Kremlev  . The organization was in a deep crisis, but Kremlev promised to sort out all the problems, including the IOC’s claims. However, the other day, the IOC completely revoked IBA’s recognition. This means that the boxing tournament at the 2024 Olympics will be held without the participation of the International Boxing Association. And without Gazprom .  Kremlev

became

the International Boxing Association (IBA) - an association of national boxing federations, created on August 24, 1920, it consists of five continental confederations, it officially includes more than 200 national boxing federations. Since December 2020, the International Boxing Association has been headed by Russian Umar Kremlev  . Even the public version of his biography is non-trivial. Journalists conducted their own investigations and claimed that there are dark spots there.

As a teenager, Umar Kremlev  (then Lutfulloev) lived in the Moscow region, boxed in the section of the Serpukhov Sports Palace. At the age of 19, he stopped boxing and became an entrepreneur: in the taxi, construction and security sectors, in public catering. Kremlev received higher education at the State Academy of Public Utilities and Construction. Then he decided to become a sports functionary and founded the Patriot promotion company, which organized fights and promoted professional athletes.

On Kremlev’s initiative, international boxing forums were held in Russia twice. In the executive committee of the Boxing Federation of the Russian Federation, Kremlev soon rose to the position of secretary general. In 2018, he joined the executive committee of the International Boxing Association, becoming the first Russian representative. There, he was entrusted with the responsible post of head of the marketing commission, appointed one of the top officials in the European Boxing Confederation.

Vicious connections

The Federation was in a deep crisis for many years, both managerial and financial. In 2019, the IOC revoked its recognition. The Federation was suspended from holding all events related to the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, including the qualifying and main Olympic tournaments, and from receiving due payments from the proceeds of the Games. The return of recognition was linked to the implementation of reforms aimed at improving administration and commercial activities.

The association’s debts by that time amounted to about $ 20 million. The previous management - the board of directors, then headed by Wu Ching-kuo from Taiwan - was blamed for this. The International Boxing Association even recognized him as persona non grata due to financial and organizational violations. The president was suspected of corruption and manipulation of results at boxing competitions.

So, in December 2020, the International Boxing Association was headed byUmar Kremlev  . A few months later, in the summer of 2021, a $50 million contract was signed, under which Gazprom  became the general partner of the federation . The federation assessed this as a breakthrough, but now this breakthrough is being presented as the main reason for the IBA’s subsequent troubles.

Soon after the agreement was concluded, the IBA reported on the repayment of debts and announced the launch of a large support program for national associations and five regional confederations. The program became part of a package of radical reforms.

New term

In May 2022, Kremlev was re-elected for a new term without any alternative. Later, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) decided that the elections were flawed - in particular, Kremlev’s only competitor, Dutchman Boris van der Foerst, was unfairly removed. The IBA did not challenge the verdict, but this story has not yet moved forward. In June 2023, the IOC Session voted by majority vote to exclude the IBA from the Olympic movement, as the international federation, which was stripped of the right to hold Olympic selection and Olympic competitions in 2019, was unable to resolve its financial and management problems. The IOC took on the task of organizing and holding the Olympic boxing tournament at the 2024 Games in Paris.

At the end of June last year, the IBA reported that it had settled all issues, including with the sanctioned Russian company Gazprom  : “The IBA has done everything possible to address the IOC’s concerns regarding various areas of the IBA’s work, as well as to improve its work in the areas of finance, management and sports integrity. The IBA has settled all debts of the previous management. Concerns regarding Gazprom  are unfounded, as the sponsorship agreement with Gazprom  expired on December 31, 2022 and was not extended.”

Sanctions

However, in October 2023, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach ruled out the possibility of reinstating the IBA as a member of the Olympic movement. The IOC recently adopted an amendment to the Olympic Charter that revokes recognition of the IBA. The amendment was adopted at the 142nd IOC Session held in Paris. Ultimately, this decision has a political background, it is connected with anti-Russian sanctions.

The IOC stated that the committee “does not understand where the money comes from” for the boxing federation: “The complete lack of financial transparency was one of the reasons why the IOC revoked recognition of the IBA. The IBA was not ready to explain the sources of its funding or its complete financial dependence on a single state-owned company, Gazprom  .”

In response, Umar Kremlev announced a “public investigation” against Thomas Bach and his team and demanded that he immediately resign: “During Bach’s tenure, the IOC has significantly deteriorated, ceasing to be an organization that unites athletes and serves our sports communities...”.