THE ASIAN Boxing Confederation (ASBC), the regional association for amateur boxing, held its quadrennial elections for president and members of its Executive Committee at the Marriott Bonvoy Hotel in Amman, Jordan on Saturday.
Elected president was Pichai Chunhavajira, a prominent businessman, corporate executive and sportsman from Bangkok. He is president of the Thailand Boxing Association and also sits as vice-president of the Thailand National Olympic Committee.
The immediate ASBC past president, Anas Al-Otaiba of UAE did not seek re-election leaving Pichai and lone protagonist Uzbek Federation vice-president Saken Polatov to contest the top post.
The 73 year-old Thai won by an 18-11 vote count.
There are 44 member-countries of the ASBC but pandemic concerns prevented several from attending the confab. There was one spoiled ballot from among the 30 votes cast.
Mr. Chunhavajira ran on a platform to help reinstate boxing in the Olympic program, empowerment of national boxing federations, support to all boxers in the region, transparency and good governance, and aggressive marketing to source funds.
Also elected were 11 Board members from different countries in the Asian region.
One of Mr. Pichai’s first acts in his first board meeting which he called right after the election, was to appoint Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP) president Ed Picson as Spokesperson and head of ASBC media Affairs. The appointment was upheld by the Board.
He then invited all Board Members to their next meeting which will coincide with the Thailand Boxing Open on April 1-10 in the scenic island of Phuket.
