Interview about Afghanistan’s developments

Afghanistan sent a team to the ASBC Asian Confederation Boxing Championships to Tashkent which was great effort from the developing country. Afghanistan has got 5,000 registered boxers in the country which is the first big step in their development.
“We all amazed to see the environment of the ASBC Asian Confederation Boxing Championship in Tashkent where boxing is so popular and the level of the organization is fantastic. We are so thankful for the Uzbekistan Boxing Federation covering our accommodation costs in our hard financial situation.
The boxing in Afghanistan was established in 1923 when a German coach arrived to the country and started his training sessions in Kabul. The first ever national competition was held in Kabul in 1957. Our first boxers competed at the Moscow 1980 Olympics and we could send one athlete to the Athens 2004 Olympic Games and also to the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Our best ever performance is a silver medal which was achieved by Muhammad Aman at the 1995 Asian Boxing Championships which took place also in Tashkent as the current edition. He lost to only Kazakhstan’s Sydney 2000 Olympic Champion Yermakhan Ibraimov in the final of the competition.
Boxing is also popular in Afghanistan as much part in the Asian continent but we are facing financial and other serious problems. The Afghanistan Boxing Federation registered 5,000 boxers last year in all age groups from the schoolboys up to the elite level. Afghanistan has got 34 provinces and following the 17 regional events we are trying to find the best fighters in our national tournaments.
We are very proud of our women boxing team which we established in 2007 and our ladies competed in several ASBC and AIBA events. We are currently working hard in Afghanistan to develop all part of the sport and will be trying to get good results in the future. For the better achievements of our boxers we need the best cooperation in all stakeholders in Afghanistan to develop our national federation and the athletes.
Our main target is to get a medal in the next Asian Games and we think our young boxers including Haroon Eshaq Zai, Mesawer Kakar and Aqluddin Nezami have got great future. They more trainings and competitions to get more success in the future. We are planning to take part in all of the AIBA and ASBC championships in 2017,” said former boxer Mr. Waheedullah Hameedi who is General Coordinator in the Afghanistan Boxing Federation and working as General Secretary in the University Sports Federation of Afghanistan.