Lankan Nieva Embuldeniya creates history in Boxing

By S. M. Jiffrey Abdeen, Kandy Sports Corr.

BOXING: Nieva Embuldeniya created history in the 62-year-old history of the International Boxing Association (AIBA) when she became the first lady to be elected to the Executive Council of the AIBA at the Annual Congress held in San Domingo in the Republic of Dominico recently.

Her appointment has brought honour to Sri Lanka as a lady she has many firsts in the sphere of boxing which is still a male dominated sport. She has been involved in this sport for over 22 years.

Born and educated in Philippines and worked and lived in Canada for 30 years as a Specialised Laboratory Analyst. She took a liking for boxing after marrying Mr. Embuldeniya who himself is a well-known figure in the boxing scene.

She was the first lady to be appointed as an International Boxing Judge and also a first from Sri Lanka to be appointed as the Vice President of the Womens Commission of the AIBA.

She has been Boxing Judge for over 22 years and adjudicated mostly in boxing bouts fought by men. She has been also a member of the Executive Council of Federation of Asian Amateur Boxing Association and the only lady to be appointed to this post. She was in the panel of jury at the Womens World Boxing Championships held in India and was also a member of the Jury for the Asian Men's Boxing Championship held in Mongolia.

There are 195 member countries in the AIBA and 32 officials are elected to the Executive Council and she is the first lady to be appointed to this post in 62 years.

Having worked in Canada for 30 years, she is now domiciled in Sri Lanka and takes an immense interest in improvement of the standard of boxing in Sri Lanka and she was one of the pioneers to encourage Sri Lanka Army women to take to boxing in 2000.

She is a popular figure at the local boxing championships officiating as a Judge and Jury.