Umar Nazarovich Kremlev

Umar Kremlev (ru: Умар Назарович Кремлёв; born as Umar Nazarovich Lutfuloev on 1 November 1982) is a Russian sports functionary and ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin. He has served as the president of the International Boxing Association (IBA) since 2020. He has been Secretary General and a Member of the Executive Committee of the Boxing Federation of Russia since February 2017. In 2022, IBA members voted against holding an election by 106 votes to 36, allowing Kremlev to remain IBA president.

Under Kremlev's tenure as IBA head, he has heavily marketed himself, moved the body's operations to Russia, suspended Ukraine from competing, and made the Russian state‑owned energy giant Gazprom the IBA's sole sponsor. The IBA's relationship with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) deteriorated under Kremlev's tenure.

Since then, Kremlev has emerged as one of the key purveyors of Russian disinformation in international sports. Kremlev has stirred controversy by claiming, falsely and without evidence, that the female boxer Imane Khelif failed her gender test after she defeated a Russian boxer, and has allegedly referred to IOC president Thomas Bach as a "chief sodomite". Kremlev graduated from the Moscow State Academy of Public Utilities and Construction.

Later life In 2010, Kremlev officially changed his name from Umar Lutfulloyev. Possible reasons for the name change include trading a Tajik surname for one that sounds more Russian, and attempting to distance himself from a youthful criminal history, which includes a conviction for extortion in 2004 and battery in 2007.

It is claimed that Kremlev worked for a transport company, Transstroykom LLC, and from 2009 to 2012 served as President of the Centre for Strategic Development and Modernisation.

In 2016, with the support of the leadership of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation – in particular Alexey Rubizhny – he became Secretary General and then President of the Boxing Federation of Russia. Kremlev claims that the federation operates on private funds and does not receive financial injections from the government. The federation's main sponsors are the bookmaker Liga Stavok and the National Lottery, which, according to an investigation by Proekt, actually belong to Kremlev himself. Also among the federation's partners was the car dealer Rolf, which, according to the same investigation, also came under Kremlev's control. Fedor Chudinov, Dmitry Chudinov, and Mikhail Aloyan. He now works at the Boxing Progress Centre in Moscow.

On 1 February 2017, Kremlev became General Secretary and a Member of the Executive Committee of the Russian Boxing Federation.

On 3 November 2018, Kremlev was elected (with 63 votes) to the Executive Committee of the International Boxing Association (AIBA, later IBA) at the AIBA Congress in Moscow, thus becoming the first Russian to be nominated as a Member of the AIBA Executive Committee.

On 23 February 2019, he was elected First Vice‑President of the European Boxing Confederation (EUBC) by a majority of votes (25 out of 40) at the EUBC General Assembly held in Moscow.

On 21 November 2019, Kremlev was nominated as Chairman of the AIBA Marketing Commission at the AIBA Extraordinary Executive Committee Meeting; he later organised AIBA Continental Forums for the countries of the Americas, Oceania, and Asia in 2020.

He won 57.33 per cent of the vote to replace Mohamed Moustahsane of Morocco as AIBA President on 12 December 2020. The election was held virtually at AIBA's ongoing congress owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was attended by 155 National Federations from five continents.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has been concerned about the IBA under Kremlev's leadership. Kremlev has ties to Vladimir Putin, has moved much of the IBA's operations from Lausanne, Switzerland, to Russia, has spent heavily on apparent self‑promotion, and has opposed the independent appointment of judges and referees. The IOC has also been alarmed by the fact that the IBA's only sponsor was a Russian state‑owned energy company (Gazprom) that supports the Russian invasion of Ukraine, This statement was later refuted in August 2024 by Chris Roberts, IBA's British chief, who confirmed that Gazprom remained an IBA sponsor. In September 2022, the IBA voted against holding a presidential election, cementing Kremlev's position as the organisation's president. three days after defeating Azalia Amineva, a previously unbeaten Russian prospect, at the IBA's world championships. Khelif has been deemed eligible for all other boxing competitions, including the Olympics.

Awards Medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", Second Class (11 March 2020), for a great contribution to the development of physical culture and sport, and for diligent work. Certificate of Honour of the President of the Russian Federation; the medal "25 Years Since the Establishment of the Presidential Security Service"; received gratitude from the President of the Russian Federation "for many years of diligent work and active social activities"; and the Cross of the International Order of St. George Glory.