Los Angeles: Qatar boxing chief Yusuf Ali Al Kazim chaired an Executive Meeting of the Arab Boxing Federation (ABF), it emerged yesterday.
Al Kazim, who is the President of Qatar Boxing Federation (QBF), was formally announced as new ABF chief as the Doha meeting.
Al Kazim was elected the new chief during the 2015 AIBA World Boxing Championships held in Doha last October.
AIBA Executive Director Karim Bouzidi was also present during the meeting in Doha.
The ABF meeting was the first major gathering after Doha successfully staged the AIBA World Boxing Championships last year in October.
Boxers representing 13 member countries of ABF also took part in the 2015 AIBA World Championships held in Doha.
A series of discussions also took place concerning the development of boxing in the region. Doha will be the headquarters of the ABF for the next four years.
Matter relating to refereeing, coaching and medical issues were also discussed in detail, QBF officials said.
“I believe we will move in the right direction with this new development,” Al Kazim said after being formally announced as ABF president following the Executive Committee meeting.
“Doha staging the 2015 AIBA World Boxing Championships was an important step in our journey to take boxing forward in the region,” he said.
“We are putting in great efforts to revive the love for boxing around the region,” Al Kazim said.
“This meeting helped us exchange what we call ‘bright ideas’. The meeting helped us think collectively and now we are ready to take a common direction to develop the sport,” he said.
“I thank the 13 members who represented their bodies in the Arab world for their visit to Doha,” he said. “There is a common eagerness to develop boxing,” Al Kazim said.
Al Kazim highlighted that developing Arab boxing was in the interest of all parties concerned. He said a new 2016 calendar will be issued soon. Al Kazim said workshops to help in developing referees and coaching will also be detailed soon.
The QBF president told the new ABF Board Members that he will work to diversify ABF activities with detailed plans. Bouzidi, who was present during the meeting, praised Qatar’s role in promoting boxing in the country and the region.
He hoped to see boxing making rapid strides across the Arab world in the coming four years and beyond. Bouzidi said Doha staged one of the finest editions of the AIBA World Championships, saying record number of TV fans tuned into watching the action at Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena.
He urged ABF to increase age-specific events around the region. He said countries like Qatar, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and parts of north Africa have strong boxing traditions.
Besides Al Kazim, Mohammed Abbas, Dr Abdul Aziz Al Ghanim, Nabil Saadi, Mourad Besbasa, Saad Sindh, Fawzi Asfar, Mohammed Bukhatir and Bashar Mustafa were also present during the meeting. New events in the region in 2016 will be held in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt and Qatar.
The Peninsula
