News of the Day: 13 December 2020

RFE/RL: Umar Kremlev of Russia has been elected president of the troubled International Boxing Association (AIBA), vowing to restore the body’s Olympic status. Kremlev won 57 percent of the vote in a five-candidate contest on December 12 involving 155 national federations to become the new head of the sports body that represents amateur boxing worldwide. His selection came despite the concerns of Olympic officials about his candidacy. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) last year stripped AIBA of its right to run boxing at the Tokyo Games, postponed by a year to 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic, amid concerns over the integrity of Olympic bouts, governance, and finance. The boxing competition at the Tokyo Olympics is instead being organized by the IOC Boxing Task Force.

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