Boris van der Vorst has made scathing remarks about the current IBA leadership in his Presidential manifesto ©Boris van der Vorst

Dutch Boxing Federation President Boris van der Vorst warns the International Boxing Association (IBA) is "in existential crisis" in his manifesto for this week's Presidential election.

Titled "A New Era for Boxing", Van der Vorst's manifesto zooms in on fair sport, maximising potential television revenue and achieving financial sustainability.

A vote for the IBA Presidency is scheduled for Friday (May 13) here in Istanbul, with the Dutch official challenging incumbent Umar Kremlev.

Van der Vorst's 15-page manifesto includes criticisms of the reign of Russian official Kremlev.

Among these concerns is boxing's exclusion from the initial programme for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

"Our International Association continues to face serious sport integrity, governance and financial issues, as indicated in the recent International Olympic Committee (IOC) Interim Report on AIBA (IBA), the McLaren reports, as well as in the Professor Haas' governance report," reads the manifesto.

"The proposed Paris 2024 Olympic qualification system is under heavy fire from both IBA National Federations and the IOC.

"Unfortunately, it has not been developed to meet the high standards of the IOC or our expectations.

"Consequently, the IOC expressed concerns and denied that it had fully approved it (letter from the IOC dated April 12 2022), despite the announcements of the IBA leadership."

Incumbent IBA President Umar Kremlev defeated Boris van der Vorst in the 2020 election ©IBA
Incumbent IBA President Umar Kremlev defeated Boris van der Vorst in the 2020 election ©IBA

Kremlev had last month claimed that the approval of the boxing qualifying system for Paris 2024 showed the IBA had "built trust and confidence" with the IOC.

Kremlev defeated Van der Vorst in the last round of voting in the December 2020 election, vowing to clear the debts of the IBA in the campaign process.

Now, the Dutchman has said the incumbent's spending has been "ineffective" during his tenure of little more than a year.

"Financial management of IBA in the past 18 months has proven to be ineffective, if not incompetent," Van der Vorst claimed.

"IBA has not followed its own budget, which is its constitutional obligation.

"Instead of focusing on sport integrity, many millions have been spent on external consultants, marketing and communication without any success to generate additional revenue sources, such as television rights sales of its major competitions or additional sponsorships.

"The fiscal year will not result in any net gains for IBA and it is a clear attempt to take all of us National Boxing Federations, as hostages to yet another promise of certain individuals, who speak of bringing in yet another 'miracle sponsor'.

"Another 'sponsor' that is clearly ready to advance individual interests, not the interests of our sport."

An IOC Boxing Task Force oversaw the boxing tournament at Tokyo 2020 ©Getty Images
An IOC Boxing Task Force oversaw the boxing tournament at Tokyo 2020 ©Getty Images

Van der Vorst said there was little transparency over the settlement of debts with National Federations, likening the state of affairs to a "private club".

He also accused the IBA of holding back a fourth report by Richard McLaren into potential corruption within the organisation until after the Extraordinary Congress.

Van der Vorst claims the system for whistleblowers is broken and also suggests cutting ties with main IBA sponsor Gazprom, the Russian majority state-owned energy company.

The IOC has raised concern over the IBA's dependence on single sources of revenue, while insidethegames analysis last month suggested Gazprom may have pumped as much as CHF30 million (£24.5 million/$31 million/€29 million) into the IBA.

Gazprom's inescapable links to the Russian state, which is waging a war in Ukraine which has seen Russian athletes banned from IBA competitions, have led to calls for the sponsorship agreement to be revoked.

Van der Vorst concluded the main part of his manifesto with a vow to get boxing back on the Olympic programme for Los Angeles 2028.

"There is still a way to keep the promise we all give to our athletes as sports leaders and save their Olympic dreams," said Van der Vorst.

Gazprom is the lead sponsor of IBA ©Getty Images
Gazprom is the lead sponsor of IBA ©Getty Images

"We can still bring back boxing for LA28 Olympic Games, and ensure that we never end up in this situation again.

"There is a way to change the organisational culture and set on a sustainable development path for our sport.

"We can still access the Tokyo 2020 funds that remain frozen by the International Olympic Committee and bring back the Olympic Solidarity funding.

"This can only happen if National Federations make a brave and responsible choice in the interest of our sport on May 13."

Van der Vorst last month lost the European Boxing Confederation Presidential election to Ioannis Filippatos of Greece.

Before the 2020 IBA Presidential election - which was to decide the official to complete the rest of Gafur Rakhimov's term in the wake of the Uzbek resigning following allegations he was involved in heroin trafficking - the IOC issued a statement warning of "concerns which have been raised against some of the candidates".

It did not individually name candidates, but indicated the result would impact efforts of the IBA - then know as AIBA - to regain Olympic recognition.

The IOC withdrew recognition in June 2019 due to concerns over judging and refereeing, financial stability and governance.

An IOC Boxing Task Force, chaired by Japanese International Gymnastics Federation President Morinari Watanabe, instead oversaw the boxing tournament at Tokyo 2020.