Abdulmutalim Abakarov, a former member of the Executive Committee of the Russian Boxing Federation, was appointed by the IBA Board of Directors following a proposal by Kremlev.

A new article passed during the IBA Congress in Abu Dhabi last month allows Kremlev to propose up to four vice-presidents, who will not have the status of a director.

Abakarov, involved in the sport for more than 30 years, becomes the first of the vice-presidents appointed and will have special responsibility for working with IBA’s Confederations.

In May 2021, shortly after he became a citizen of Serbia, Abakarov was included on a list of more than 600 names published by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy which imposed sanctions on individuals it was alleged posed a security threat to the country.

But in December 2021, Abakarov was officially removed from the list after it was revealed he had been included by mistake.

As a coach, among the boxers that Abakarov has worked with is Azerbaijan’s Albert Selimov, the 2007 amateur world champion in the under-57 kilograms category and winner of the under-60kg gold medal at the inaugural European Games in Baku in 2015.

Abakarov’s son Abubakar is a leading Brazilian jiu jitsu fighter, the winner of a World Championship gold medal in 2019.

"The IBA Board of Directors unanimously decided to appoint Mr. Abakarov as vice-president and in full accordance with IBA's statutes," an IBA spokesperson told insidethegames.

"Mr. Abakarov is not a sanctioned individual and is a long-time sports administrator and a welcome addition to the IBA boxing family and its senior leadership team."

The appointment, though, of another Russian to a leading position at IBA will do little to reassure the International Olympic Committee (IOC), who last month warned the organisation was ignoring its "grave governance issues" and claimed it had "no real interest in the sport of boxing and the boxers, but is only interested in its own power."

The IOC are also fearful that the extension of IBA’s $50 million (£41 million/€47 million) contract with state energy supplier Gazprom means that it "will continue to depend on a company which is largely controlled by the Russian Government".

So concerned are the IOC by these recent developments, that they warned that boxing, which has already been left off the initial programme for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, that it could also be removed from Paris 2024.

The IOC, who suspended IBA in 2019, are currently due to oversee the boxing tournament in the French capital having also organised the event at the re-arranged 2020 Olympic Games held in Tokyo in 2021.

Kremlev hit back at the IOC by claiming he was being persecuted because he is Russian and accused them of manipulating the sport "for geopolitical purposes."

USA Boxing responded to the threat by writing an open letter in which they claimed maintaining Olympic recognition was its "top priority," sparking fears that a breakaway international federation could be established if Kremlev does not repair relations with the IOC.