Suriname, St Lucia, French Guiana on board for GBA’s Feb 17 boxing card
GBA president Steve Ninvalle (Samuel Maughn photo)
GBA president Steve Ninvalle (Samuel Maughn photo)

– Ninvalle preparing for a busy 2018

WITH a busy 2018 ahead, the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) will host their first card for the year which will have an international flavour to it, according to President Steve Ninvalle.

Ninvalle told Chronicle Sports that Suriname, French Guiana and St Lucia are expected in Guyana for the February 17 event, which will be held at the National Gymnasium.

Qualifying for the Central America and Caribbean (CAC) Games, as well as featuring at the May 19 – 27 AMBC Youth American Confederation Boxing Championships in Colorado and ensuring that Guyana give a good account of themselves at the Commonwealth Games are seen as priorities for Ninvalle, which makes the up-coming tournament important.

Ninvalle, an Executive Committee Member at boxing’s world governing body International Boxing Association (AIBA) also noted that this year’s Caribbean Championship is also yet to find a host, but, Guyana will be willing to host in last resort.

The Guyanese is the lone English speaking Caribbean official on AIBA’s decision-making body, and stated that the sustenance of the Caribbean Championship is important to the development of the sport in the region.

Apart from Guyana’s Keevin Allicock’s silver medal at the Youth Commonwealth Games, boxers in the Caribbean had not seen the podium in a number of international events, and Ninvalle pointed out that the Caribbean should come together at every opportunity given.

AIBA named its longest-serving Vice-President Gafur Rahimov as its new Interim President on Saturday last, according to their statues, following the unexpected resignation of Interim President Franco Falcinelli at the Extraordinary Congress held in Dubai.

Ninvalle was among the 109 National Federations, including USA, Russia, France, China, Brazil, South Africa and Cuba.

“AIBA is not in the best financial state at the time,” Ninvalle related, as he spoke about lobbying for assistance for several programmes in the Caribbean.

Indeed, AIBA is facing some financial difficulties, since Rahimov correlated that an out-of-court settlement has been reached to end a legal fight over a critical $10 million loan by one of the biggest creditors to WSB Americas Operation that had been guaranteed by AIBA.

The agreement calls for the reimbursement of part of the funds, beginning in 2021, while another portion of the amount will be converted into sponsorship.

The boxing federation has been plagued with financial mismanagement and a lack of transparency, which led to the resignation in November of AIBA President CK Wu. Accounting irregularities at AIBA also raised concerns with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which in December asked AIBA to submit a plan to address its governance and financial issues by January 31.

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