Farid Vatanparast, new acting president of the German Boxing Association, talks about his office, his career and vocation and his plans for boxing.
Farid, Prof. Dr. Jens Hadler recently resigned unexpectedly as President of the German Boxing Association (DBV), following his conviction in the first instance by the Braunschweig Regional Court. How did you come to be approached so quickly? How and by whom were you approached, how did you react to the request to be co-opted?
I was pleasantly surprised by this myself. I found out that there was an internal meeting among the DBV executive board. Then Ronny Abraham (DBV Vice President Legal Affairs; editor’s note) wrote to me asking if I could come online for a moment. I was then directly confronted with the fact that Jens Hadler had resigned or would be resigning. In the search for a suitable successor, everyone involved unanimously agreed that I was the right man for the job – and whether I would take on the position. I thought about it for a moment, just a few seconds really, because I’m always thinking about certain changes. Then …
In the current DBV presidium, which is linked to you as co-opted president until the election in September of this year, I think hardly anyone has as much expertise in competitive sport – especially in terms of club and association management – as you do. How much time for reflection are you taking to make a final decision as to whether you will actually officially run in September?
I am aware of the responsibility I have – and as I said before, this is incredibly important to me: when I do something, I want to achieve results at the end of the day. And these don’t come from just sitting at home and letting things happen, but I want to help shape things, I want to be involved…
Interview by Horst-Peter Strickrodt
You can find the complete two-part interview in the BOXSPORT app under Exclusive!