AIBA has outlined proposals made by five committees ©AIBA

A series of recommendations have been made to the International Boxing Association (AIBA) development programme, including ways to strengthen refereeing and judging.

The Referee and Judges Committee were among five AIBA bodies to submit recommendations, which the governing body says are now being implemented.

The coaches, competitions, women’s, medical and anti-doping committees also put forward proposals.

A complete review of the referee and judges code of conduct was recommended, as well as constant assessment of the technical and competition rules.

A refreshing of regulations and standards post-Tokyo 2020 was also proposed by the referee and judges committee, led by Chris Roberts.

The committee recommended a database refresher course be completed and delivered virtually, along with special courses for evaluators and observers.

Regular webinars were suggested as part of a drive for continuous professional development.

The AIBA said the recommendations form part of efforts to improve both ethics and behaviour.

The governing body highlighted that the AIBA instructor manual is currently being re-constructed to support the officials’ pathway, with instructors required to be educated to the very highest of standards to deliver a new referees and judges certification course.

The course is set to be delivered as early as October 2021.

The committee are also reviewing the scoring system which will be introduced later in the year.

Further recommendations include boosting diversity through an AIBA inclusivity toolkit, as well as establishing a uniform for all referees and judges at all levels.

AIBA has vowed to boost standards in refereeing and judging, with a judging scandal at Rio 2016 contributing to the organisation seeing its recognition suspended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

All 36 referees and judges involved in the Games were suspended.

Anti-doping was also highlighted by the IOC as an area of concern.

AIBA has targeted boosts to the development 
of women's boxing and officiating ©Getty Images
AIBA has targeted boosts to the development of women's boxing and officiating ©Getty Images

The AIBA Medical and Anti-Doping Committee, led by Ioannis Filippatos, has recommended updating a list of all active doctors and provided ratings.

An electronic database of medical history and all medical examinations will be created.

The body plans to educate three active doctors to deliver the ring-side doctor and cutmen courses.

The committee says it will organise a first-aid course for the coaches within championships as well as a separate course for cutmen.

The AIBA Women’s Committee, led by Amanda Coulson, plan to invent the Women’s Aspire Programme.

This will see courses held for female coaches, referees and judges, international technical officials, doctors and sport managers across all five confederations.

A pilot project is to be held in the Assisi Academy, with monthly webinars also scheduled.

The Coaches Committee has also pushed by e-learning programmes, which are set to be translated into multiple languages.

The committee, overseen by chair Ervin Kade, says it will seek to collaborate with universities to keep on track with developments, as well as produce video tutorials and exercise folders for the AIBA YouTube channel.

AIBA says its Competitions Committee, led by chair Michael Müller, will develop a criteria system to choose the most experienced AIBA officials with high potential for roles.

Officials will have to be cleared from any corruption and demonstrate a good lifestyle as part of the criteria.

The body has recommended organising special courses for international technical official instructors, including checks through interviews and other assessments.

A new bidding book is set to be created to improve the bidding process for major AIBA tournaments.