Council investigates Maba’s suspension

The Malawi National Council of Sports will investigate circumstances that forced the International Boxing Association (Aiba) to suspend Malawi Boxing Association (Maba) on allegations of flouting electoral statutes.

The suspension restrained the country’s boxers and office bearers from participating in tournaments and meetings locally and internationally.

The Sports Council’s executive secretary George Jana said this in response to The Nation’s questionnaire seeking its position on the suspension of Maba, which also sees all those involved in amateur boxing ineligible to indulge in the sport in any capacity.

“This comes as news to us. I have, however, conferred with the association and also checked with the Aiba website and indeed there seems to be that suspension as confirmed by the association. Apparently, they also seem to have received the notification recently.”

“We will investigate the matter in reference to the reasons for the suspension as stated by Aiba and will make a decision together with the association. You will obviously be kept in the loop. At the moment, I am waiting for a copy of the suspension letter.” exlained Jana.

Coincidently, the council officials were returning officers during the Maba polls held in January 2014 in Liwonde where Henry Sakala was elected as the new president heading an executive committee whose all members Aiba has faulted as not meeting a pre-requisite that such office bearers must not have indulged in professional boxing in the last five years.

Sakala, who owns a boxing stable for professional boxers in Lilongwe, all his executive committee members had, before last year’s delinking with the National Professional Boxing Council (MNPBC), served professional boxing in several capacities and most continue to do so.

Sakala has since vowed to challenge the suspension, effected on July 15 2014, noting that there is no single boxing official in Malawi, who had before the delinking of amateur from professional boxing, never been involved in the professional boxing ranks.

But on its website www.aiba.org, the world boxing control body stresses that “this provisional suspension will be running as long as new elections are not organised to Aiba’s entire satisfaction and as per the Aiba Statutes and by-laws”.