Muhangi and African Boxing bodies petition IBA President Umar Kremlev against 4-year competition calendar and $80 Million athlete prize fund

By Emmanuel Sekago

In a bold move to challenge the recent decisions made by the International Boxing Association (IBA), Moses Muhangi, representing the Uganda Boxing Federation, alongside 16 other African boxing bodies, Mr. Solomon ( Sierra Leone), Mr. Djamon ( Chad), Mr. Loutomo ( Republic of Central Afrique), Mr. Azania (Nigeria), Mr. Issoufu (Niger), Mr. Arvian (Zimbabwe), Mr. Eric ( Burundi), Mr. Mohamed ( Comoros), Mr. Paskali ( Mauritius), Mr. Zuma (Malawi), Mr. Monteiro Manuel ( Cape Verde), Mr. Edmonds Follette ( Seychelles), Mr. Kalisa Vicky ( Rwanda), Mr. Webster Lukhele ( Eswatini), Mr. Dan Chiteule ( Zambia), Mr. Alaeldin Ali ( Sudan) and Mr. Jallow (Gambia but in individual capacity) submitted a petition to Mr. Umar Kremlev, the President of IBA.

According to the document seen by wallnetnews dated May 7th 2024,  The petition addresses concerns regarding the newly unveiled 4-year competition calendar spanning from 2024 to 2028, as well as the establishment of an $80 million athlete prize fund, both announced on May 4th, 2024.

The petition underscores several key issues raised by Muhangi and the collaborating African boxing bodies. Firstly, they express apprehension regarding the feasibility and practicality of the proposed 4-year competition calendar.

Such an extensive timeline raises questions about the logistical challenges, financial burdens, and the potential strain on participating athletes and federations.

Additionally, concerns are raised about the transparency of the decision-making process behind the calendar’s formulation and the extent of consultation with key stakeholders, particularly from the African continent.

Furthermore, the petition scrutinizes the establishment of the $80 million athlete prize fund. While the fund is ostensibly aimed at incentivizing and rewarding boxing talent, Muhangi and his counterparts highlight the need for greater clarity regarding the fund’s administration, distribution criteria, and its long-term sustainability.

There are concerns that without clear guidelines and safeguards in place, the fund could exacerbate inequalities within the sport and disproportionately benefit certain regions or athletes at the expense of others.

In the Petition Mr Muhangi and other Africa Boxing federation presidents raised seven points to Mr. Umar Kremlev, IBA President for his attention concerns regarding this athlete Prize Money Fund as has been published by IBA for your urgent consideration;

1- Mr President, Going by the figures above Upto $4 Million dollars will be available for Each Confederation over a period of 4 years which totals to $20 million dollars. This means that the $60 million dollars will be reserved for IBA world Boxing Championships and the IBA champions night for the 4 year cycle.

2- Mr President, Since you took office No single African Male boxer has ever won a medal in the IBA world Boxing Championships, save for the two Mozambique girls that won silver/ bronze medal in the Women Boxing World Championships in Istanbul Turkey and the one Moroccan girl that won a medal in the Women World Boxing Championship in India. The performance of African Boxers at the IBA World Boxing Championships have been very poor majorly because our level of boxing as a continent is still low compared to the rest of the other confederations. Our level of boxing in Africa will not change overnight for us to be able to compete favourably and win medals at the IBA World Championships so that our boxers can have a chance to benefit from the $60m dollar Prize money Fund. Mr president, it therefore seems like the $60 million dollar prize Money Fund will not benefit the African Boxers given the circumstances.

3- Mr President, Part of the $60 Million Dollar is the yearly $7 million dollar Prize fund set for the IBA champions night and that will be a total of $28 million dollars prize fund to IBA Champions Night during the 4 years Cycle. We request you to Note that since we started organizing the IBA Champions night less than 5 boxers from Africa have had a chance to participate in the champions night and still none of them has won the big prize money because our level of boxing is still low, All the African Boxers have settled for in the Champions night is losers pay. This simply means that still the $28 million dollars will benefit most the boxers from other Continents and not Africa. Mr President you also need to note that until today, it is not clear on how a boxer is chosen to participate in the Champions night hence most boxers participating in the Champions Night have come from the other Continents but not Africa.

4- Mr President, We want to also present to you the other challenges associated with IBA World Championships that makes it hard for African Countries to participate in the IBA World Championships hence reducing the chances for our boxers from winning the prize money at that level;

National Federations struggle to present teams to the IBA world Championships and if you check the records, the numbers of countries and boxers from Africa attending the IBA world championships is very small/low over the years – I recall even during the World Boxing championship in Tashkent IBA had to pay for almost all the African Countries that participated, this simply tells you that our immediate problem as Africans is not even the prize money but our capacity to prepare and present teams in the IBA world Boxing Championships

Whereas there are no visa restrictions for boxers from other Confederations to travel within Europe, Asia and the Americas. African Boxers struggle to get visas to attend the IBA World Boxing Championships from wherever they are organised and hence the minimum participation of our boxers in such competitions which subsequently reduces our chances as Africans to share on that $60 million prize fund as reserved for the IBA World Championships and the IBA Champions night.

Mr President, Even in the cases where we are able to access visa, the cost of travel from Africa to wherever the IBA World Championships are organised is too high and this subsequently makes us fail to participate in the high Prize Money IBA World Boxing Championships as Africans hence we will miss out on the $60 million dollars prize money fund set for IBA world Championships and IBA Champions Night in the next 4 years cycle.

5-Mr President, whereas its in your good intentions that athletes Worldwide benefit from this $80 Million Prize Money Fund as was approved by the IBA BOD, African Boxers are only likely to benefit from the $4 Million dollars set for the continental events due to the reasons we have articulated above. This simply means that out of the $80 million dollar athlete Prize Money Fund the African Boxers will access only $4 million dollars which is equivalent to 5% and the rest of $76 million dollars equivalent to 95% will go to the boxers in other confederations.

6- Mr President, Allow us remind you that Africa as confederation has supported your Leadership/ Administration in totality since you took charge of the International Boxing Association (IBA), Africa has stood by your side even when some members in other confederations have gone against you to form a parallel International Boxing group called “World Boxing” which now threatens the existence of your administration and by such we deserve some bit of special attention from you our beloved President.

7-Mr President, It is very unfortunate that our Representatives in the IBA BOD as Africans maybe have not been able to articulate these issues/ concerns to you during your meetings but Given the above We sorry to tell you that this 4 year prize money fund (2024 – 2028) of $80 Million dollars is a Raw Deal to us as Africans and it is Our humble request that you consider engaging us as Africans and we guide you in what we consider as our problems for you or IBA to assist us better as soon as yesterday.

In conclusion, Mr. President, We have shared the above concerns in good faith and we hope that you receive this petition in good faith as well for the love and development of boxing that we both yearn for.

The petition serves as a call to action for Mr. Umar Kremlev and the IBA leadership to address these pressing concerns and engage in meaningful dialogue with African boxing federations and other stakeholders. Muhangi and his fellow signatories advocate for a more inclusive and collaborative approach to decision-making within the global boxing community, one that prioritizes the interests and voices of all federations, regardless of their geographical location or resource capacity.

As the petition gains momentum and garners support from boxing federations across Africa, it represents a pivotal moment in the ongoing evolution of the sport. Muhangi and his allies are committed to advocating for greater transparency, equity, and accountability within the IBA, ensuring that the interests of African boxers and federations are duly recognized and respected on the international stage.