Abberley Appointed CEO of ABAE

April 8, 2011

Mark Abberley has been appointed by the Amateur Boxing Association of England (ABAE) as their new permanent chief executive.

Paul King has been replaced having held the position of chief executive since March 2005 on a long term secondment from Liverpool City Council.

Abberley will begin at the end of next month and will assume responsibility for the delivery of the ABAE’s Whole Sport Plan to increase and sustain participation in amateur boxing and drive excellence.

The 43-year-old has over 20 years’ experience in Sports Management and has spent the last two years as a regional cluster manager in the David Lloyd Leisure Group.

He is also chairman of Archery Great Britain’s Performance Group, a non-executive director of GB Handball and an advisor to Goalball UK but he will vacate these roles to focus exclusively on his responsibilities with the ABAE.

Abberley stated: “This is a great opportunity to work in a fantastic sport that has a proven track record of delivering huge benefits to people and communities.

“I look forward to bringing all of my experience in both Olympic sport and membership based sports businesses to help develop amateur boxing and build on the success it has had in recent years in growing participation and producing talent.”

Despite Abberley’s appointment, King was heavy favourite to retain the role of chief executive but withdrew his application to take up the position on a permanent basis because of the fall-out from his unsuccessful campaign to challenge C K Wu for the Presidency of the International Boxing Association (AIBA).

After failing to topple the powerful Wu, King spearheaded an attempt to postpone last year’s AIBA Congress held in Almaty last October in a move that has seen the ABAE come under investigation from the AIBA Disciplinary Commission.

Abberley’s first task will be to build bridges with AIBA and Keith Walters, the chairman of the ABAE, is confident the new chief executive has the skill to succeed in the role, stating: “Mark’s combination of skills, experience and passion for the sport made him an outstanding candidate.

“I have no doubt that under Mark’s leadership; the ABAE will be successful in enabling the sport of amateur boxing to flourish in England.”