Federation Focus: Ex-AIBA President Loses U.S. Appeal

(ATR) Former AIBA President Gafur Rakhimov is unsuccessful appealing sanctions that deny him entrance to the U.S. and a host of other countries.

Rakhimov, an Uzbek-born businessman, has been under watch by the U.S. Commerce Department for alleged connections to Russian organized crime activities. He denies any ties to criminal activity.

His standing with the U.S. was an issue throughout Rakhimov’s year tenure as president of the boxing federation, first on an interim basis. He won a landslide victory in 2018 to a full four year term, but resigned in 2019. He frequently cited the appeal of his sanctions to counter questions over his suitability to serve as AIBA president, particularly from the IOC.

He said he resigned for the good of the federation, which was on the verge of suspension by the IOC for missteps and mismanagement well before Rakhimov took charge. His elevation to the AIBA presidency added more unneeded controversy that led to the federation suspension, even after Rakhimov resigned.

His successor on an interim basis is Mohamed Moustahsane, a physician from Morocco. Moustahsane has overseen reforms demanded by the IOC to end the suspension. But completion of the changes has been disrupted by the corona pandemic. The new constitution and by laws were to have been adopted at an extraordinary congress in March and are now supposed to be considered in June.

The IOC sanctions have removed AIBA from responsibility of organizing the boxing tournament at the Tokyo Olympics. The IOC has indicated that even if AIBA adopts appropriate reforms ahead of the now-postponed Tokyo Olympics, the suspension will remain in effect through the Games next year.

FITEQ Reaches Member Milestone

The International Federation of Teqball (FITEQ) has grown from four members to 51 in two years.

The latest federations to be recognized this month are those of Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia and Eswatini (formerly Swaziland).

"We are very proud to have reached more than 50 national federations on all five continents within only three years," said FITEQ President Gábor Borsányi in a statement. "This shows the power and opportunity of teqball."

FITEQ, which was established in 2017, is aiming to recognize 75 National Teqball Federations by the end of 2020.

"We are in dialogue with 150 countries that have not yet established National Teqball Federations and it is our job to support them throughout this process, so that people in these countries can reach their full potential, whatever level that might be," FITEQ Vice President Gyuri Gattyán said.

FITEQ was officially recognized by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) in August 2018, and the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) in June 2019. In January 2020, FITEQ was granted observer status by the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) and in March 2020, the International Federation officially joined the Organisation of Sports Federations of Oceania.

FIL Proposes Women's Doubles for World Cup

The International Luge Federation (FIL) says using video conferences for two days of meetings among its various specialist commissions has "proven to be very helpful".

FIL President Josef Fendt and Secretary General Einars Fogelis took part in the digital meetings.

Among the proposals developed was the introduction of a women’s doubles class for junior competitions beginning this coming season. Women’s doubles would then be added to the World Cup circuit beginning with the 2021-22 season.

The FIL executive will be meeting via video conference in mid-May to discuss all of the proposals.

While some of the FIL’s work is being done despite the coronavirus, the pandemic has forced the postponement of the federation’s 68th congress.

Originally scheduled for June 15-16 in Berchtesgaden, Germany, the congress has been pushed back to the autumn. An exact date, probably in October or November, will be announced in May.

FIVB Moves Congress to 2021

The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) has rescheduled its 37th World Congress to January 27-29, 2021 in Phuket, Thailand.

The meeting was originally scheduled for October 15-17 in Phuket. The FIVB’s decision to reschedule the meeting to 2021 was made in part to give the confederations additional time to hold their congresses, which are required by the federation’s constitution to be held three to four months prior to the FIVB World Congress.

The FIVB Board of Administration and Executive Committee meetings, originally scheduled for May 26-28, have been postponed to the summer to potentially allow for the in-person participation of members. The specific dates for these meetings will be confirmed at a later date.

The 37th World Congress agenda includes the election of all FIVB Board of Administration members for the term 2020-2024. It will be the first election in which an integrity check of all candidates for positions on the FIVB Board will be conducted.

The term of the current President Ary S. Graça F° runs until 2024.

Written by Ed Hula and Gerard Farek

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