AIBA officials assure fair shake

MANILA, Philippines - Association Internationale de Boxe (AIBA) officials Herbert and Nieva Embuldeniya said the other day with the ascension of AIBA president Dr. Ching Kuo Wu, fighters from all over the world are guaranteed a level playing field and assured fairness in judging bouts during a courtesy call on Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP) chairman Manny V. Pangilinan in Makati.

Both Herbert and Nieva are high-ranking International Technical Officials (ITOs) in AIBA, the International Olympic Committee-recognized global governing federation for boxing based in Lausanne, Switzerland. Herbert, a native of Sri Lanka, served in the AIBA Executive Committee from 1990 to 2002 and is a member of the Referees and Judges Commission while Nieva, a Filipina from Cagayan, sits in the AIBA Executive Committee and is the vice chairperson of the AIBA Women’s Commission.

Nieva, a medical technology graduate of UST in 1971, migrated to Canada where she earned a degree in microbiology, met and married Herbert and was introduced to amateur boxing by her husband in 1986. Herbert, a retired education superintendent in Manitoba, has been involved in amateur boxing for over 40 years. They moved to Sri Lanka in 1999. The couple was in Manila for a few days after attending the Asian Championships in Zhuhai, China.

“Dr. Wu has introduced startling changes since taking over as AIBA president in late 2006,” said Herbert. “He’s firm and strict but fair and honest. The bad, old days of AIBA are now in the past. Today, AIBA is transparent and gives equal opportunities to all countries with no fear or favor. We shun politics. In an international event, it is AIBA that chooses the referees and judges, not the host country. AIBA has taken concrete steps to make sure judging is fair. Referees and judges are evaluated during and after every tournament. If someone is found to be incompetent or biased, we won’t hesitate to take drastic remedial measures.”

Dr. Wu’s campaign for equal opportunity and fairness was evident in the results of the last Olympic boxing tournament where nine countries won a gold medal of a possible 11, Mongolia won its first gold and silver medals, the Dominican Republic won its first gold and Armenia, India and Mauritius took their first medals.

At the 24th Asian Championships in Zhuhai last June 7-13, countries like Turkmenistan, Lebanon, Jordan and Iran won medals. India took a gold, two silvers and four bronzes to rank third in the country standings behind China (three gold, three silvers, two bronzes) and Uzbekistan. Thailand finished with two golds and a bronze. Close to 170 fighters from 20 countries participated.

Herbert encouraged the Philippines to apply for more slots in the referees and judges pool on the international level. There are over 500 international referees and judges, including five Filipinos, namely, Jess San Esteban, Darcito Teodoro, Roger Fortaleza, Mario De Guia and Dante De Castro.

“It takes six to eight years for a national referee and judge to join the continental pool before qualifying for the international category,” said Herbert. “We welcome more Filipinos in the AIBA pool. Of course, they must pass the exams and be constantly exposed internationally so they may be evaluated. On the AIBA level, some of the evaluating factors are appearance, fitness, knowledge of the rules with proper interpretation and application.”

There are only four Filipino referees and judges on the continental level, namely Rodolfo Cartin, Celestino Revamonte, Tito Dacuma and Ramon Vicente.

Nieva said she is optimistic that women’s boxing will be included in the Olympic program for the 2012 London Games. The IOC will decide on the issue during its Congress in Copenhagen on Oct. 3-5.

“We are fortunate that Dr. Wu is an IOC member (since 1988),” said Nieva. “Women’s boxing has gained tremendous popularity around the world and in the last World Championships, there were over 200 fighters from 41 countries, including the Philippines (which claimed a silver and two bronzes).”

If women’s boxing makes it to the London calendar, the speculation is only three weight divisions with 12 fighters each will be introduced. They are the 50, 60 and 75 kilogram classes.

During the call on Pangilinan, the AIBA officials said they would facilitate communication links for ABAP with the Asian Boxing Confederation and AIBA itself.

Also present at the meeting were ABAP president Ricky Vargas, ABAP secretary-general Patrick Gregorio and ABAP executive director Ed Picson.