New boxing body ahead of London 2012- 6 Oct 2008 00:00:00
The structure of boxing in the UK has been overhauled with responsibility for the sport’s Olympic team handed to a new body, the British Amateur Boxing Association.
The move to switch the duties for amateur boxing to the new body in the build-up to London 2012 was approved by elite athlete funding organisation UK Sport with Derek Mapp becoming the first chairman of the BABA.
Said Mapp, a former chairman of grass-roots funding body Sport England: ‘I welcome this decision and the support UK Sport has shown for the change I am trying to make. There is enormous potential for boxing to be a real star in 2012 and beyond. My job at BABA is to ensure everything we do supports those at the sharp end: the boxers, their coaches and support teams.
‘While they did extremely well in Beijing, I recognise not everything around them is right at the moment, and I am committed to ensuring this fresh start will bring change that is meaningful and lasting.’
British boxers surpassed their Beijing target with bronze medals for light-heavyweight Tony Jeffries and super-heavyweight David Price, and a superb gold for middleweight James DeGale.
However matters outside the ring got so bad UK Sport was forced to take emergency control of the Sheffield-based elite programme in late June. The funding body put boxing on red alert at its most recent quarterly review because of serious concerns about ‘governance’ and ‘climate within the sport’.
At this time, the programme was run by the Amateur Boxing Association of England (ABAE), the governing body in the largest of the three home nations that make up the team.
UK Sport's chief executive John Steele said: ‘This is the right solution at the right time for the sport.
‘Terry Edwards and the team did a fantastic job in Beijing and they deserve to have the chance to move forward under the best possible high performance structure.
‘BABA will provide a fresh start in terms of the way the sport is run. Crucially the elite end of the sport will have dedicated funding structures in place, and a new management board with a strong focus on performance and recognition of what is needed to succeed on the world stage.’
That management board is comprised of two representatives each from the ABAs of England, Scotland and Wales, and will operate until March 2009 when the ‘Beijing cycle’ of funding runs out and the London cycle begins.
The board then will be expanded to nine, with the ABA contingent reduced to three. They will be joined by Mapp, the performance director and four independent directors.
By that time the sport will hope to have received an increase on the £5m of lottery money it received for the 2005-09 period.
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