(JAN 22) The European Boxing Confederation (EUBC) has today confirmed that the dates and venue of the 2016 AOB European qualifiers have been changed. This brief note appears on the organisation's website Friday morning.

"The AIBA Executive Committee approved the change of the dates and the Host City of the upcoming AOB European Olympic Qualifiers. The Competition will be held in Samsun (Turkey) from upcoming April 7-18 (Changed from Istanbul April 20 – May 1).

Important dates for boxers,coaches to note:

Team Arrivals: April 7

Technical Meeting: April 8

Official Draw and Weigh In: April 9

Competition: April 9-17

Team Departures: April 18

The change has also been added to the AIBA's own official calendar of 2016 events.

WBAN readers of course had been alerted to likely changes in recent weeks due to terrorist attacks in Istanbul when we called for change of location and also an earlier start and finish date to allow boxers more 'recovery' time before the next major tournament. On 15th January referring to the attacks in Istanbul we called upon the AIBA to clarify outstanding issues saying:

"WBAN calls upon the AIBA to issue a clear statement on the above issues but in particular what assurances can they give regarding the safety of boxers, coaches, referees and judges as well as spectators of ALL nationalities IF the event goes ahead as planned in Istanbul (or elsewhere in Turkey) and on same day we added:

"WBAN understands from ‘sources close to the AIBA’ that the European Olympic Qualifiers will now start on April 7th following representations from a number of National Federations, boxers and coaches. The original date was April 20th. We also learn that Samsun on the Black Sea in Northern Turkey is the likely venue should further terrorist attacks lead the AIBA Executive and its Security Advisors to conclude that the safety of boxers, coaches and officials cannot be guaranteed in Istanbul".

Clearly they have also noted their own Federations' displeasure at delays in confirming exact dates and venue. WBAN is pleased to have given our readers an early warning re the new dates/venue but there remains a number of "important outstanding issues" still causing concern and those we will outline again in a separate article on AIBA related matters.