PRESIDENT of the Guyana Amateur Boxing Association (GABA), Steve Ninvalle, is scheduled to depart the ‘Land of Many Waters’ in a week’s time to attend an International Boxing Association (AIBA) Executive Committee (EC) meeting in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

The meeting, which was first set for Baku, Azerbaijan, was subsequently shifted to the new venue two weeks ago.

The EC meeting will be held from July 11 to 14 and is expected to be the last gathering of the current EC before elections, slated for Moscow, Russia, in early October.

AIBA has 203 affiliated countries with over 9000 boxers and 5000 officials, but has endured a ‘topsy turvy’ period recently after the resignation of Taiwanese, Dr. Ching-Kuo Wu, last October.

Since then the body has been run by two interim presidents, with the incumbent, Gafur Rakhimov of Uzbekistan being accused by the USA of having ties to drug trade.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has since threatened to remove boxing from the 2020 Olympics if the body (AIBA) does not reform.