Photo: George Sallfeldt (left) with new IMMAF president, Kerrith Brown (right)
IMMAF founder George Sallfeldt hails from Sweden. With original president, August Wallen, he was responsible for dreaming up and activating the establishment of an international MMA governing body, the IMMAF, between 2010 and 2012.
With an MBA in Financial Management from the Stockholm School of Economics, George Sallfeldt works professionally as CEO for Morningstar Sweden AB, in the financial sector.
With previous experience of 4 years in Anti-doping for the Swedish Sports Confederation, Sallfeldt took the position of President of the Swedish Mixed Martial Arts Federation in 2011 where he served at the helm until March 2014.
It was in his role as IMMAF Vice-president that George recently recommended former judo chairman, Kerrith Brown, to the position of IMMAF president to draw unanimous positive vote from the board.
We caught George Sallfeldt for a brief interview about the new president, IMMAF’s direction and the relationship with UFC:
You recently recommended Kerrith Brown to the presidency of the IMMAF. What value does Kerrith bring to IMMAF and what impact do you think the appointment will have on the organisation?
There were several reasons why I suggested Kerrith for the IMMAF presidency. I think Kerrith has the right experience to lead the organization at this pivotal point in time. After years of hard work IMMAF is ready to take the next big step in its development. We are facing some very exciting times ahead but they will also bring challenges. I believe that Kerrith’s experience of leading established sports federations positions him well to know how we can best work towards success. Also I feel that Kerrith is a very loyal and hardworking person. His ability to handle many issues simultaneously and still be calm and collected is impressive. The board and I stand behind Kerrith one hundred percent and we’ll all work hard together to develop IMMAF to the next level. You are one of the original founders of IMMAF with August Wallen. How do you feel about the development of IMMAF since inception? I think we’re all proud of the great work that has been done so far. So many people all over the world have contributed and we’ve come a long way. But we shouldn’t pat ourselves on our backs just yet! IMMAF is still “a baby” and there are many challenges to overcome. I now feel confident that IMMAF has been firmly established and will continue to grow stronger day by day. But we must continue to keep our eyes clearly on our vision. We want to bring amateur MMA back to the Olympic program. MMA has such a long history and is one of the most appreciated sports in the world today. We are of many who strongly feel it deserves to be part of the Olympics. Earlier this year UFC renewed its support of IMMAF. Can you explain the relationship between UFC and IMMAF? How important is this relationship and why? The UFC has identified IMMAF as an essential counterpart in the global development of the sport. A federation format is nothing new. Most sports work this way. Also most sports have some sort of mechanism to funnel money to the grassroots. As the biggest professional league in MMA, the UFC supports IMMAF’s global development of amateur competition, coaches’ and officials’ training, anti doping work and much more. I believe the UFC has really shown it’s true love and commitment for this sport by supporting IMMAF and all the young athletes out there in the world. [/spb_text_block]]]>
