Steve Ninvalle has now etched his name in amateur boxing’s history books.
Yesterday at the International Boxing Association’s (AIBA) 2014 Congress in Jeju, Korea, the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) president became the first person from the English-speaking Caribbean to be elected to the governing body’s executive committee. “It is a huge success for Guyana and the Caribbean.” an elated Ninvalle told Stabroek Sport in a telephone interview yesterday. “It gives this region a voice in the most important decision making forum in the sport.”
Ninvalle expounded “The executive committee of AIBA makes all the decisions concerning amateur boxing for the next four years without having to resort to a congress. “It is the first time that we have someone from the English speaking Caribbean being on the executive committee of AIBA and this is like the Cabinet that makes all the decisions, it comprises of 20 persons from different countries in the world.”
The GBA head then disclosed that “The Caribbean region is ecstatic about it and they are still celebrating because they are happy that the voice of the Caribbean can be heard in the inner chambers of AIBA.” Said current president of the Grenadian Association and former president of CABA Ralph James.
“This has been a tremendous victory for the Caribbean, in fact the Americas have realized that without the Caribbean they can’t go forward so Steve’s victory is a victory for boxing, I think it’s a victory beyond boxing, it’s good for Caribbean sport.
“It is a tremendous victory and I would put it this way, round one, mission accomplished.”
“Alvin Sergeant, Vice President of the Bahamas Boxing Association and AIBA’s Referees and Judges Commission cosigned. “It was an extremely proud moment for us in the Caribbean, we are happy that Steve has won a major victory, it is a victory for the Caribbean and we should be justly proud because this certainly puts us further ahead in the game.” Carolyn Whatley, USVI Secretary General reiterated that “A win for Guyana is a win for the Caribbean.”
Meanwhile, AIBA’s president, Dr. Ching-Kuo Wu, was elected unopposed for a third consecutive term. After his re-election, Wu outlined his key priorities for the coming four years, which included:
Ensuring that more women were appointed to leadership positions in boxing;
Establishing a ‘boxer centered’ organization by opening the doors for boxers to take up leadership positions;
Continuing to expand the World Series of Boxing (WSB) competition and the AIBA Pro-Boxing competition (APB), while at the same time increasing their commercial value; Investing the revenues from Elite competitions into developing future generations of boxers by targeting funds towards the grassroots of the sport around the world.
In addition to re-electing Wu, delegates from national federations at the International Boxing Association’s 2014 Congress also voted to appoint new Vice Presidents and Executive Committee members for the coming four years.
The Vice President appointments are:
VP for Africa: Kelani Bayor (Togo)
VP for America: Osvalo Bisbald (Argentina)
VP for Asia: Serik Konakbayev (Kazakhstan)
VP for Europe: Franco Falcinelli (Italy)
VP for Oceania: Ted Tanner (Australia)
In addition, three new Vice Presidents were appointed:
Di Wu (China) VP representing the Boxing Marketing Arm (BMA).
Timur Kulibayev (Kazakhstan) VP representing the AIBA Pro Boxing (APB)
Gofur Rakhimov (Russia) VP representing the World Series of Boxing (WSB)
Executive Committee members are:
From Africa: Mohamed Moustahsane (Morocco) and Nabil Sadi (Algeria)
From America: Alberto Puig De La Barca (Cuba) and Ray Silvas (USA)
From Asia: Yan Yue (China) and Yoon Seok Chang (Korea)
From Europe: Terry Smith (Wales) and Suleyman Mikayilov (Azerbaijan)
From Oceania: Mapu Jamias (American Samoa)
Additional EC members elected are:
Fran Lopez Almeida (Venezuela)
Jurgen Kyas (Germany)
Eyup Gozgec (Turkey)
Steve Ninvalle (Guyana)
Pat Fiacco (Canada)
