A historic Ordinary General Assembly of IMMAF (International Mixed Martial Arts Federation) concluded with the merger of IMMAF and WMMAA and a new Board of Directors elected unanimously to represent the sport of amateur MMA.
Presidents from 48 national federations representing the amateur sport worldwide, meeting in Bahrain on November 15, elected Kerrith Brown (GBR) as IMMAF President. Former WMMAA President Vadim Finkelchtein (RUS) was elected as Honorary President, to stand alongside August Wallen ( SWE ) who was elected as Honorary President in 2015. George Sallfeldt (SWE) was elected as Vice President and retiring board member Frank Babcock (USA) was elected as an Honorary Board Member.
The new 14 strong board has three women for the first time: Denitza Batchvarova (USA), Tatiana Klimenko (RUS) and Svetlana Odintsova (NED).
Also elected to the IMMAF Board: Bertrand Amoussou (FRA), Stewart Brain (AUS), Wissam Abi Nader (LEB), Viktor Frolov (RUS), Han Jiuli (CHN), Iskander Karim (KAZ), Raymond Phillips (SA), Tom Madsen (GER) and Galimzhan Yessenov (KAZ).
Kerrith Brown said; “The schedule over the past year has been extremely gruelling as we continue our crusade for recognition. More than ever, we will focus on the job at hand and overcome all obstacles in our drive to gain our place amongst other international sport federations.
“The merger with WMMAA will certainly increase our operational efficiency. With the two organisations now merged, we have greatly expanded our geographical reach, boosted our membership base and reinforced our credibility as the only legitimate world governing body for MMA.”
Vadim Finkelchtein underlined the great progress that has been made over the past 12 months, “The representatives from both organisations are now working strongly together. We share the same vision and passion to develop a world governing body for MMA that delivers for our federations and athletes and can be fully integrated into the global sport community.”
As well as approving an increased budget for 2020, the General Assembly also elected the following Committees for a two-year term:
Arbitration Committee
Rupert Beloff (GBR)
Sean Sullivan Gibbs (GBR)
Eusebio Rivera (PAN)
Mathieu Laplante-Goulet (CAN)
Anti-doping Committee
Michele Verroken (GBR)
Max Shephard (GBR)
Jack Kreindler (GBR)
David Wang (USA)
Veronika Nalbatska (BUL)
Anti-doping Disciplinary Committee
Max Shephard (GBR)
Michele Verroken (GBR)
Prem Kumar (MAL)
Andrew Smith (GBR)
Disciplinary Committee
William Lexton Jones (GBR)
Thomas Rudkin (GBR)
Stanislav Nedkov (BUL)
Nominations Committee
Jesper Gunnarson (SWE)
Clements Werner (GER)
JD Du Plessis (RSA)
The General Assembly also voted to create new commissions in addition to Coaching, Medical, Ethics and Regulatory Affairs.
Athletes’, Business Development, Communications and Marketing, Competition Bidding, Women’s and Youth Development Commissions will support the work of the IMMAF Board and administration, bringing the total number of expert advisory groups to 15. The list of members, including chairpersons, and 2020 strategic plans for each committee/commission, are now being finalised.
IMMAF is also setting up new Area Commissions for Africa, Asia, Europe, Pan-America and Oceania to give each area a stronger voice and a structure that can help to accelerate the amateur sport’s development at regional level.
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