The court case threatening to postpone and possibly even cancel the event was lodged against the governing body of Olympic boxing on behalf of a number of national boxing associations, some of whom are understood to have been suspended from AIBA for non-payment of fees.

The 13 federations involved were Bangladesh, Belgium, Brunei, Bulgaria, England, Ethiopia, Laos, FYR Macedonia, Nepal, Romania, Thailand, East Timor and Ukraine.

But the Lausanne Civil Court rejected the action brought against AIBA by dismissing an action calling for an immediate cancellation and postponement of the Congress in Almaty without hearing.

 

This clears the way for the highly anticipated debut of the new global boxing series and AIBA President C. K. Wu welcomed the court’s decision.

Wu told insidethegames: "Over the past four years, we have continued to make AIBA an open and transparent organisation and established clear rules of governance while enforcing these strictly.

"The order issued by the Civil Court in Lausanne confirms that AIBA has been acting in accordance with its rules in the organisation of its Congress, which will start as planned on Monday, November 1.

"Furthermore, this order serves to remind those who seek to destroy what AIBA has achieved and to undermine our organisation that they will not succeed."

The first WSB bouts will take place at the famous Sport Palace  and see The Astana Arlans of Kazakhstan take on the Istanbulls of Turkey in a match that will pit two of the 12 WSB franchises from across the globe against each other.

The two will compete across the five WSB weight categories - 55kg, 61kg, 73kg, 85kg and 91+kg with fighters from Turkey and Kazakhstan as well as Ghana, Serbia and Morocco representing the two squads on a high-quality fight card featuring the likes of Kazakhstani reigning Olympic welterweight gold medalist Bakhyt Sarsekbayev.

Wu said: "The exhibition match in Almaty will give us the first real taste for what the exciting new WSB concept can deliver for the world of boxing and especially for the fans. 

"The fight marks a landmark moment. 

"After all our development and preparations, we will see some action in the ring ahead of the full launch on the weekend of November 19, 2010."

The exhibition aims to showcase the unique format of the WSB to both the general public and some of the most influential boxing administrators with over 100 AIBA national federations attendance.

The WSB will be the only professional boxing series in which boxers will retain their Olympic eligibility and the competition will allow the Individual Champions to qualify directly for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Federations will receive a return on their investments in boxers with the 12 city-based franchise teams - spread across Asia, the Americas and Europe - set to compete against each other over two home and two away legs during the regular season from November 2010 to March 2011.

The top team from each conference, plus the best second-placed team, will then go through to the play-off series to compete for a place in the team championship final at a neutral venue while separate individual championships will be held for the best boxers in each of the five weight divisions with London 2012 spots up for grabs.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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