I call upon my brother Eyassu to accept the recent changes made by IBA and wait for the next election to seek the mandate of the electorate instead of causing unnecessary confusion, says Pearl in response to a planned Congress in Addis Ababa in August by the former AFBC President
The Chairperson of the Africa Boxing Confederation (AFBC) Normalisation Committee, Pearl Dlamini, has advised National Federations to ignore an Extraordinary Congress in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on August 23 this year convened by the deposed former AFBC President Eyassu Berhanu.
Reacting to the purpoted Congress, Dlamini made it clear the AFBC Normalisation Committee is the one in charge of managing boxing in Africa following the dissolution of Berhanu’s underperfoming board by the IBA.
In a letter to all AFBC NFs, Dlamini said in accordance to Article 18.1(a) of the AFBC
Constitution, an Extraordinary Congress shall only be convened by the AFBC Board of Directors.
The letter read in part: “As all of you are well aware, the AFBC Normalisation Committee has been established recently by the IBA Board of Directors in order to restore effective lawful governance, constitutional order and stability to AFBC. The AFBC Normalisation Committee has therefore gained full executive authority over tohe management of boxing in Africa and in doing so, replacing the AFBC President, AFBC Vice President and AFBC Board. The above was also duly notified to all National Federations by means of communication via the AFBC Normalisation Committee Statement, dated 31 May 2025.
“Considering the above, the former AFBC Board of Directors no longer have the power to govern any affairs within the AFBC, including to convene an AFBC Extraordinary Congress, as far as it now lies within the competence and full jurisdiction of AFBC Normalisation Committee.
Therefore, please be advised that the allegedly announced AFBC Extraordinary Congress of 23 August, 2025, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia is not recognized as such and will not take place.
Please note that further updates will be made and provided by the AFBC Normalisation Committee in due course.”
The deposed AFBC Board’s letter dated June 17, 2025, written by the former Interim Secretary-General Yohanes Birhane, reads in part: “In accordance with Article 18 of the African Boxing Confederation (AFBC) Statutes, we are pleased to invite you to attend the Extraordinary Congress, which will take place on August 23, 2025, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In conjunction with this important meeting, we are also organizing a major continental boxing event, which will bring together Africa’s top male and female boxers. This high-profile competition will feature a substantial prize purse, reflecting our strong commitment to raising the profile of African boxing on the international stage.
“The official agenda for the Extraordinary Congress will be shared with you in the coming weeks. In the meantime, any National Federation wishing to propose agenda items is kindly invited to submit them to the AFBC Office via our official email: sg@afbcsport.org. The deadline for submissions is July 18, 2025.”
The International Boxing Association (IBA) has also expressed its concern and dissatisfaction on the conduct of the former President of the dysfunctional AFBC Board, Eyassu Berhanu, and made it clear boxing management in Africa is now under the AFBC Normalisation Committee.
IBA’s letter dated June 17, 2025, reads: “On 3 April 2025, the IBA Board unanimously invoked Article 14.5 of its Constitution to establish a Normalisation Committee for the AFBC. This decision, reaffirmed on 5 May 2025, was prompted by serious governance and operational irregularities that led to the effective fragmentation of the AFBC into two separate factions. “The dysfunction within AFBC could no longer be ignored. We owe it to our National Federations, athletes and coaches across all regions to uphold integrity and restore stability,’ stated IBA Secretary & CEO, Mr Chris Roberts OBE. The establishment of the Normalisation Committee was designed to address systemic issues within AFBC and support its reform, not to target any individual. However, recent public statements by Mr. Berhanu attacking the IBA, its President Umar Kremlev, and the Normalisation Committee have been deemed unjustified and detrimental to the sport’s progress in Africa.
“IBA remains committed to unity and transparency. Under President Kremlev’s leadership, we’ve seen concrete advancements in African boxing. Undermining these efforts is both outrageous and disrespectful, it helps no one,’ Mr Roberts continued.
The Board has called on Mr. Berhanu to cease public disparagement and uphold his responsibilities under Article 14.5 of the IBA Constitution. The organization encourages all parties to engage constructively in the normalization process for the good of boxing across the continent.
This decisive action reaffirms IBA’s commitment to safeguarding integrity, transparency, and unity in boxing across Africa and worldwide.”
In a telephone interview with boxersworld.co.ke from Eswatini, the newly-appointed head of African boxing, Pearl Dlamini, told the deposed AFBC President Berhanu to avoid living in denial because he’s no longer in charge of boxing in Africa.
“My brother Eyassu should avoid living in a dreamland, he has no mandate to govern African boxing because the IBA Board appointed the Normalisation Committee which is now in charge of boxing in Africa.
“He had all the time to introduce the so called prize money tournament and hold the Congress but he never did that, why do it now?”
Dlamini advised Berhanu to desist from further tarnishing his image through issuing impotent statements that portray a confused and an ignorant former AFBC President with his head deep in the sand.
Indeed Berhanu, as Dlamini said, is living in a dreamland, and now he has several options on way forward.
He can seek legal redress at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, move with his loyalists to the World Boxing (WB) and then join other NFs from Africa to form their own WB African body, he can become a boxing promoter to organise prize money tournaments of his own, go to the grassroots and develop boxing in Ethiopia which has yet to make an impact in Africa boxing, or wait for next year’s elections to seek the mandate of the AFBC NFs.
If Berhanu can’t take the aforementioned options, he can as well forget about Africa boxing and concentrate on his businesses. Otherwise his fate in AFBC, for now, is sealed. That’s the reality he should faithfully accept with his loyalists.
