Regional federations stated there is a crisis in the Boxing Federation of Ukraine and called for the return of their voting rights ahead of the December 12 conference

Representatives of the initiative group of regional federations stated there is a systemic crisis in the Boxing Federation of Ukraine (FBU) and called for ensuring transparency and compliance with statutory norms ahead of the FBU conference scheduled for December 12.

Head of the Control and Audit Commission of the FBU Kostiantyn Kalashnikov reported that an initiative group has been formed from legally registered and genuinely active regional branches, which has been joined by about 15 organizations.

“The Boxing Federation of Ukraine is in a systemic crisis, therefore we formed an initiative group of genuinely active regional organizations. Our task is to return voting rights to the real federations and not allow decisions to be made behind closed doors or to be substituted by ‘paper’ branches; we will defend this right at the December 12 conference,” emphasized Head of the Control and Audit Commission of the FBU Kostiantyn Kalashnikov at a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine agency on Tuesday.

Kalashnikov also stated that the initiative group sees signs of a “raider takeover of management” and violations of the principles of sports democracy in the actions of the current leadership. Separately, he drew attention to risks for the international reputation of Ukrainian boxing due to cooperation with the IBA contrary to the position of the International Olympic Committee, and also reported the group’s intention to defend the position of the regions at the FBU conference.

In turn, FBU Vice President Andrii Kotelnyk noted that part of the boxing community does not support a split within the federation, however considers it unacceptable to ignore the IOC’s recommendations regarding distancing from the IBA.

“The Association of Boxing of Ukraine was created by an initiative group of five federations not in order to split or divide Ukrainian boxing, but so that it would remain in the Olympic Games. We supported the course of joining World Boxing, as recommended by the IOC, and we want Ukrainian boxing to develop as a public, not a privatized structure,” Andrii Kotelnyk of the FBU stated.

Separately, Kotelnyk reported that the initiative group’s team has prepared a draft updated statute which, according to them, preserves the role of regional branches, as well as a program for the development of Olympic boxing for the 2026–2028 and 2029–2032 cycles. He added that a number of companies have expressed readiness to support the FBU, attracting approximately about 25 million per year for the needs of Olympic boxing.

FBU presidential candidate, president of the Sumy Regional Boxing Federation Mykola Kravchenko presented a vision of reforms and development programs. Among the priorities, he named the institutional unification of the federation, fair and transparent elections of governing bodies, mechanisms of independent control, as well as financial motivation for athletes, coaches and judges. He also supported the development of the National Boxing League and the project of a club championship based on the model of clubs symbolically connected with the structures of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

“Ukrainian boxing has always stood on the shoulders of character, discipline and tradition, but today the time has come to move forward more boldly and in a more orderly manner. I propose the institutional unification of the federation and transparent governance without dividing into ‘ours’ and ‘theirs,’ holding fair and transparent elections of governing bodies, mechanisms of independent control and clear financial motivation for athletes, coaches and judges,” Mykola Kravchenko emphasized.

President of the Kyiv City Boxing Federation Oleksandr Nehoda gave examples of the work of the capital’s branch and critically assessed interaction with the FBU leadership. In particular, he reported that in 2025 three new gyms were opened in Kyiv, one of which is at the Kyiv Sports Lyceum, and the closed city championship among boys and juniors gathered 428 participants versus the previous record of 170. At the same time, according to him, requests from the Kyiv federation to include the “Kyiv Cup” tournament in the FBU calendar remained unanswered.

“We hold capital championships at a high level and pay cash prizes, motivating our boxers, but from the FBU’s side there is complete ignoring of our appeals, in particular regarding the ‘Kyiv Cup’ tournament. At the same time, at the last Ukraine Cup the prizes were in the form of a certificate for 400 hryvnias – 400 hryvnias is received by the champion of the Ukraine Cup, how do you like such motivation?” the president of the Kyiv City Boxing Federation asked.

Nehoda also drew attention to what he called “manipulations” with regional representation and referred to data from профильних agencies regarding the number of active regional federations within the FBU. He stated that some branches which, according to him, do not demonstrate activity in all-Ukrainian competitions retain voting rights, while a number of federations with results at the national and international levels, in the official’s opinion, have been deprived of such a right.