Representatives of the initiative group of regional federations announced a systemic crisis in the Ukrainian Boxing Federation and called for transparency and compliance with statutory norms ahead of the FBU conference scheduled for December 12.
The head of the FBU Control and Audit Commission, Konstantin Kalashnikov, announced that an initiative group had been formed from legally registered and actively operating regional branches, with about 15 organizations joining.
“The Ukrainian Boxing Federation is in a systemic crisis, so we have formed an initiative group of actively operating regional organizations. Our task is to restore the right to vote to the real federations and prevent decisions from being made behind closed doors or replaced by ‘paper’ branches; We will defend this right at the conference on December 12,” said Konstantin Kalashnikov, chairman of the FBU’s control and audit commission, at a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine agency on Tuesday.
Kalashnikov also stated that the initiative group sees signs of a “raider takeover” and a violation of the principles of sports democracy in the actions of the current leadership. He separately drew attention to the risks to the international reputation of Ukrainian boxing due to cooperation with the IBA contrary to the position of the International Olympic Committee, and also announced the group’s intention to defend the position of the regions at the FBU conference.
In turn, FBU Vice President Andriy Kotelnyk noted that part of the boxing community does not support the split within the federation, but considers it unacceptable to ignore the IOC’s recommendations to distance itself from the IBA.
“The Ukrainian Boxing Association was created by an initiative group of five federations not to split or divide Ukrainian boxing, but to keep it in the Olympic Games. We supported the course of joining World Boxing, as recommended by the IOC, and want Ukrainian boxing to develop as a public, not a privatized structure,” said FBU Andriy Kotelnyk.
Kotelnyk also said that the initiative group had prepared a draft of the updated charter, which, according to them, preserves the role of regional centers, 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 their willingness to support the FBU, contributing approximately 25 million per year to the needs of Olympic boxing.
FBU presidential candidate and president of the Sumy Regional Boxing Federation Mykola Kravchenko presented his vision for reforms and a development program. Among his priorities, he named the institutional unification of the federation, fair and transparent elections of governing bodies, mechanisms for 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 associated with the structures of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
“Ukrainian boxing has always been based on character, discipline, and tradition, but today it is time to move forward more boldly and in a more orderly manner. I propose institutional unification of the federation and transparent management without division into ‘us’ and ‘them’, fair and transparent elections of governing bodies, mechanisms for independent control and clear financial motivation for athletes, coaches and judges,” Mykola Kravchenko emphasized.
The president of the Kyiv City Boxing Federation, Oleksandr Negoda, gave examples of the work of the capital’s center and critically assessed the interaction with the leadership of the FBU. In particular, he reported that in 2025, three new halls were opened in Kyiv, one of which is in the Kyiv Sports Lyceum, and the closed city championship among youth and juniors attracted 428 participants, compared to the previous record of 170. At the same time, according to him, the Kyiv Federation’s request to include the Kyiv Cup tournament in the FBU calendar remained unanswered.
“We hold high-level capital championships and pay cash prizes to motivate our boxers, but the FBU completely ignores our appeals, in particular regarding the Kyiv Cup tournament. At the same time, at the last Ukrainian Cup, the prize was a certificate for 400 hryvnia—the Ukrainian Cup champion receives 400 hryvnia. How do you like that motivation?” asked the president of the Kyiv City Boxing Federation.
Negoda also drew attention to what he called “manipulation” with regional representation and referred to data from relevant agencies on the number of active regional federations within the FBU. He stated that some of the branches, which, according to him, are not active in all-Ukrainian competitions, retain the right to vote, while a number of federations with results at the national and international levels, in the opinion of the official, are deprived of this right.
