EYASSU & CO STILL IN DENIAL AFTER IBA’S BRUTAL KO PUNCH THAT LEFT THEM DAZED
▪️ In what is viewed by ring analysts as an exercise in futility they’ve now decided to seek legal redress at the Court of Arbitration for Sports in Switzerland
The KO punch that sunk Eyassu Berhanu and his henchmen was delivered by the IBA with clinical efficiency and superb timing.
It was devastating as it was painful causing severe damage that left the entire AFBC Board under Berhanu groggy and staggering on disobedient legs.
The International Boxing Association had no other option after painstaking efforts to reconcile the two warring factions, one led by Berhanu and the other one by Congolese Boxing Federation President Ferdinand Ilunga Luyoyo who toppled Berhanu’s regime in a “bloodless coup” during the 2024 Africa Championships in Kinshasa, DR Congo.
IBA quashed the coup reinstating a bewildered Berhanu back to power, terming the meeting illegal and unconstitutional.
IBA’s intervention was however shortlived, for soon after the battle continued with each group claiming legitimacy as the bonafide leaders of the hugely divided AFBC. Luyoyo and team went back to the bush hurling missiles from left, right and centre.
In a last ditch effort to resolve the impasse, IBA called for reconciliation meetings in Dubai but no solution was achieved as the hatred between the two factions was deep. Luyoyo’s breakaway group insisted Berhanu must go but the Ethiopian and his henchmen dug deep maintaining they’re still in power.
Eventually the IBA, realising their repeated attempts to mediate and reconcile the factions were unsuccessful, invoked Article 14.5 of the IBA Constitution to establish a Normalisation Committee to stabilize AFBC and oversee all its operations. IBA Board of Directors member Pearl Dlamini from Eswatini was appointed Chairperson of the NC, becoming the first ever female to lead African boxing.
“The Normalisation Committee’s primary mandate includes addressing governance issues, managing AFBC’s daily affairs, and organising a legitimate congress to elect a new leadership aligned with the core values and mission of IBA,” said a statement from the world’s governing boxing body.
Article 14.5 of the IBA Constitution outlines the process for establishing a Normalisation Committee to address serious governance issues within a Confederation or National Federation.
Specifically, this article allows the IBA Board of Directors to invoke this article when mediation attempts have failed, and the involved parties demonstrate limited willingness to resolve the conflict amicably.
Key points of Article 14.5:
Normalisation Committee:
The article empowers the IBA to establish a Normalisation Committee, which will temporarily oversee the operations of the affected Confederation or National Federation.
Immediate Intervention:
The committee’s mandate is to address governance issues, manage daily affairs, and organize a legitimate congress to elect a new leadership.
Binding Decisions:
All decisions made by the Normalisation Committee are binding on the Confederation, its governing bodies, and affiliated National Federations.
Purpose:
The article’s primary purpose is to safeguard integrity, transparency, and unity within the sport.
Composition:
The committee typically consists of IBA Directors, Vice Presidents, key stakeholders from the region, and IBA staff.
As the supreme governing international body, the International Boxing Association deserves a hefty pat on the back for their patience with the warring factions in the Africa Boxing Confederation (AFBC) from the time the rift erupted at the 2024 AFBC Men’s and Women’s African Boxing Championships in Kinshasa, DR Congo.
Congolese Boxing Federation President Ferdinand Ilunga Luyoyo led delegates representing over 30 National Federations to pass a vote of no-confidence on the underperforming AFBC administration under Ethiopian businessman Berhanu whom they accused of arrogance, poor leadership ignoring the AFBC Constitution and lack of transparency.
Luyoyo’s group further accused Berhanu of opposing Kinshasa as the venue for the prestigious African tournament, and preferred Gabon to stage the continental boxing. event.
That was not all. The Luyoyo faction was also bitter with Berhanu for deliberately refusing the Congress to take place in Kinshasa since his election by acclamation in 2023 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Insiders claim Berhanu was scared stiff the Congress would topple him through a vote of no-confidence.
Perhaps, realising he was losing grip on power, Berhanu reportedly wrote to some AFBC affiliates not to attend the Africa Championships in Kinshasa, an allegation he denied. It therefore came as a big surprise for the Luyoyo team to see Berhanu attend the opening ceremony of the hugely successful championships that however ended without boxers receiving their prize money.
Bubbling with confidence as the Interim President of AFBC’s splinter group, Luyoyo, a senior policeman in DR Congo government, fired the first salvo at Berhanu, denying him a chance to address the fully-packed Stade De Martyr Gym. A disappointed Berhanu was left with egg on his face and the following morning he quietly boarded his plane back home to Addis Ababa.
In response to IBA’s decision to disband the AFBC Board, Berhanu’s team said they don’t recognise the NC because its formation was unconstitutional and that the IBA had not specified what mistakes the Berhanu leadership had committed to warrant the formation of the NC.
Berhanu issued a lengthy media statement condemning the IBA for imposing the Normalisation Committee on AFBC.
The statement read: “As the democratically elected President of the African Boxing Confederation (AFBC) I unequivocally condemn the International Boxing Association’s (IBA) unilateral imposition of a so-called Normalization Committee on our Confederation. This act is not only unconstitutional but represents a flagrant violation of the sovereignty, autonomy, and democratic will of African boxing.
“The IBA’s decision starkly contravenes both the AFBC Constitution and the IBA’s own statutes. Specifically:
• AFBC Constitution: Guarantees the Confederation’s autonomous legal status—an authority that has been blatantly ignored by this imposed committee.
• IBA Constitution (Article 14.5): Requires evidence of a serious breach before such a drastic intervention can occur. To date, no such breach has been proven or even properly presented.
“Since January 2025, the AFBC has made repeated formal requests to be heard. These requests were ignored. The IBA has excluded the duly elected AFBC President and Board of Directors from consultation processes, in direct violation of the principles of fairness, transparency, and due process. Even more troubling, the IBA has failed to condemn the illegitimate actions of the rogue faction within AFBC—further exposing a pattern of selective justice and institutional bias.
“The AFBC Ethics Committee, acting within its mandate, suspended members of the breakaway group. This decision was subsequently ratified by the 2024 AFBC Ordinary Congress in Dubai—an event held with full quorum, due process, and undeniable democratic legitimacy. Yet, the IBA dismissed this democratic mandate and chose to legitimize those who openly defied both AFBC and IBA rules.
“Despite having withheld all financial support to the Confederation throughout 2025, I have personally covered operational costs including the rent of the AFBC Headquarters and staff salaries to ensure our Confederation remains active and functional. Thanks to the unwavering commitment of our Board of Directors and member federations, African boxing has not only survived this unjust pressure but continues to thrive. We have advanced competitions, delivered technical training, and launched development programs that reflect our resilience and capability.
“Make no mistake: this so-called “Normalization Committee” is not an instrument of reform. It is a tool of political coercion, designed to dismantle an African leadership that has taken a firm stand against corruption and mismanagement. By choking operational funding and undermining our institutions, the IBA has attempted to destabilize AFBC and reverse the progress we’ve made.
“Yet, under our administration, AFBC has achieved numerous milestones, including the establishment of headquarters in Addis Ababa, successfully organizing the African Youth Men’s and Women’s Championships in Conakry, Guinea, ending a seven-year hiatus in continental competitions despite minimal support, launching continentwide development programs, including extensive referees and judges training initiatives, and hosting Africa’s first-ever IBA Champions’ Night, demonstrating our capacity to deliver world-class boxing events. These achievements stand as a testament to African excellence in sports governance. We do not require foreign management to succeed. We simply need respect for our institutions and leaders.
Boxing in Africa is more than a sport. It is a platform for peace, a catalyst for youth empowerment, a tool for social change, and a source of national pride and economic opportunity. But its full potential has been stifled by external manipulation and unethical power plays. It is time to reclaim what is rightfully ours. In defense of our sovereignty and democratic order, the AFBC has officially filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to annul the IBA’s illegitimate committee. We are confident that justice will prevail.
“As your President, I want to assure every National Federation and every boxer across this continent that I will fight relentlessly for the truth. I will ensure that your votes are honored, your voices are heard, and that the integrity and sovereignty of our beloved Africa will never be compromised.”
Interestingly, Berhanu is now condemning IBA despite receiving enormous financial support and piggyback rides on initiaves of the international body.
Among the initiatives include IBA fully financing the inaugural 2024 Mandela African Boxing Cup Championships in Durban, South Africa, and Addis Ababa hosting the first ever IBA Champions’ Night which was funded by the IBA.
The IBA also financed the inauguration of AFBC Headquarters including salaries of the staffers in Addis Ababa.
This year Berhanu said he has been funding the Headquarters but so far majority of the staffers have quit owing to non-payment of salaries for five months. Unconfirmed reports have it that there’s damning evidence of massive financial impropriety at the now moribund AFBC Headquarters.
Subsequently, Africa’s boxing head Pearl Dlamini, has written to the deposed AFBC Board to hand over a detailed inventory list of all AFBC assets, reports and relevant documents.
“A financial audit will be required to understand office and regular payment needs,” said Dlamini in her letter.
She went on:”We therefore ask you to prepare all financial records and reports detailing all monies received from IBA since you assumed office and the expenditure against these funds. Evidence of such records must be forwarded to us by 25 June, 2025.”
As to Berhanu’s positives, he receives plaudits for financing the colourful 2023 Congress in Addis Ababa and funding travel and accommodation expenses of AFBC Board members at the low-key Africa Youth Championships in Guinea attended by only eight countries as well as organising referees and judges course with each participant paying for their own travel and accommodation expenses.
Much was expected from the self-proclaimed billionaire when he took over AFBC leadership with high hopes he would breathe a new life to the cash-strapped beleagured African boxing body and introduce more tournaments.
That didn’t happen neither did he bring on board even a single sponsor as he had promised in his manifesto using his international connections. The proposed introduction of Junior Africa Championships he said he would use his own resources became a still birth.
What contributed to Berhanu’s inadequacies in his short uneventful tenure in AFBC?
For more information on Berhanu’s fall, I spoke to David Pina, a former chairman of AFBC Ethics Committee who is now one of the Normalisation Committee members.
“Berhanu chose the wrong partners and advisers to manage AFBC ignoring key people who campaigned for his election,” Pina told boxersworld.co.ke.
“He accepted to be influenced by bad advice provided by his new friends resulting in poor decisions.
“The IBA gave Berhanu’s office money to manage boxing but instead the money was used to create opposition in the National Federations, division in AFBC Board of Directors, conflicts of interests in several key areas such as the Ethics Committee.”
Pina said the straw that broke the camel’s back was when Berhanu refused to convene a statutory Extra-Ordinary Congress requested by more than a third of the eligible National Federations.
“That was the beginning of Berhanu’s downfall, he lost trust of the National Federations and were it not for IBA’s support his chapter would have been closed at the 2024 Kinshasa meeting.”
Pina cites Berhanu’s failure to adhere to governance standards and obligations and brings to the fore complaints raised by Luyoyo’s group regarding his close association with Guinea’s federation president Alpha Amadou Balde whom they alleged was his chief adviser. Balde was the Vice-President in Berhanu’s leadership.
Pina on some of the factors that led to Berhanu’s downfall: “Failure to convene the Congress on November 27, 2023, under Balde’s influence Berhanu refused to organise the Congress, AFBC Disciplinary Committee suspended Balde for three years from all boxing-related activities for his unethical conduct during the African Games in Accra but Berhanu reversed the suspension without adherence to procedural protocals, interference in AFBC Commissions and internal operations of various National Federations and manipulating opposition thus compromising the independence and integrity of the NFs, Berhanu appointing presidents of Angola and Cameroon in violation of the constitution, administrative incompetence including the appointment of unqualified interim secretary general, manipulation of board decisions resulting in arbitrary dismissals and appointments including wrong termination of secretary general Andre Basile Kalongo, appointment of Ethiopian staff only in the AFBC headquarters without the required AFBC BoD consultation and sabotaging the African Championships in Kinshasa.
Pina further said Berhanu failed the NFs by ignoring telephone calls and messages from their leaders overlooking the importance of communication, and only called some members when he had a particular personal interest on some issues.
Commenting on Berhanu’s decision to seek legal redress at the Court of Arbitration for Sports in Switzerland, Pina said the case is already dead on arrival, accusing the deposed AFBC Board of failing to comply with the constitutional requirement to escalate their case with the Boxing Independent Integrity Unit (BIIU).
“CAS will use the IBA Constitution in resolving the issue,” pointed out Pina.
Here is Article 49.1 of the IBA Constitution ignored by Berhanu’s team.
*DISPUTE RESOLUTION, COURT OF ARBITRATION FOR SPORT*
49.1
IBA shall provide to National Federations, Confederations, Boxers and other boxing
stakeholders the institutional mean – the Dispute Resolution Chamber of the BIIU
Compliance Unit – to resolve any dispute that may arise between or among them.
49.2
Any final decision rendered by IBA or BIIU may be submitted exclusively to CAS,
which will resolve the dispute definitively in accordance with the Code of Sports
Related Arbitration. The language of the proceeding shall be English. The time limit
to appeal shall be 21 (twenty-one) days after the reception of the decision to be
appealed.
49.3
CAS shall decide the dispute according to this Constitution and the Regulations, and,
subsidiarily, according to the Swiss law.
