The International Boxing Association is said to have benefited from the sponsorship deal with energy giant Gazprom ©Getty Images

Gazprom, the Russian energy giant, may have pumped as much as CHF30 million (£24.5 million/$31 million/€29 million) into the International Boxing Association (IBA) under a sponsorship deal agreed last year, insidethegames analysis suggests.

The money has been vital to IBA President Umar Kremlev’s so far successful efforts to dig the International Federation out of the financial mire.

The sponsorship is controversial, however, in light of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Gazprom is 38 per cent-owned by the Kremlin, with two other Russian state companies owning an additional 12 per cent of the gas behemoth.

Kremlev, a 39-year-old Russian, faces a challenge to his leadership from Dutchman Boris van der Vorst who also ran against him when the Presidency was last contested in late 2020.

The new election is due take place at the body's Congress in Istanbul on May 13 and 14.

The balance-sheet in IBA’s statutory accounts as at June 30 2021 shows that the organisation benefited during the year from an injection of well over CHF30 million (£24.5 million/$31 million/€29 million) of cash and CHF5 million (£4.1 million/$5.2 million/€4.9 million) of what are described as "shares".

These shares are said to be in a "low risk fund".

Gazprom is 38 per cent-owned by the Kremlin, with two other Russian state companies owning an additional 12 per cent ©Getty Images
Gazprom is 38 per cent-owned by the Kremlin, with two other Russian state companies owning an additional 12 per cent ©Getty Images

While IBA is known to have received CHF5 million of event fees relating to the Global Boxing Cup - a tournament that was due to have been staged this year in Russia - in the latter part of 2020, it is hard to see where much of the rest of that cash would have come from other than Gazprom.

The accounts also disclose that sponsorship and television rights revenue in the year to end June 2021 amounted to CHF7.73 million (£6.3 million/$8 million/€7.5 million), up from less than CHF1 million (£820,000/$1.04 million/€975,000) a year earlier.

Moreover, according to a budgeted income statement for 2021-22 approved by the Board of Directors last November, this sponsorship and television rights revenue figure was expected to surge to CHF27.1 million (£22.2 million/$28.3 million/€26.5 million) in the current financial year.

Asked about the sponsorship deal, IBA said it "cannot reveal the details of IBA’s General Partnership agreement with the media, since these are commercially confidential".

It acknowledged however that Gazprom was its "predominant sponsor", adding that "the organisation has been entirely dependent on commercial revenue since the IOC suspended its funding in 2017".

A recent letter to National Federations from IBA secretary general István Kovács stated that "thanks to its partnership with Gazprom, IBA has been able to effectively support National Federations, competitions and athletes, while also settling the debts that had threatened our future and transforming our organisation".