Boxing: International Olympic Committee strips International Boxing Association of world governing body status

The International Boxing Association has been stripped of its status as the sport’s world governing body by the International Olympic Committee following a failure to meet reforms set after the 2019 suspension.

The IOC’s executive board recommended the move earlier in June after the IBA failed to meet the reforms which had been set out after its suspension over governance issues and alleged corruption. The vote took place today, Thursday 22 June and of the 70 valid votes, 69 voted in favour of the recommendation.

Boxing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics was organised by the IOC after concerns over the governing body’s finance, governance, ethics, refereeing and judging and the Olympic body will once again be in charge when the games take place in Paris 2024.

The sport had been left off the initial programme for Los Angeles 2028 but speaking during the IOC’s 140th session when the vote was held, the director general Christophe de Kepper said he “guarantees” boxing will be on the programme in five years’ time.”

Before the vote took place, the court of Arbitration for Sport rejected an appeal by the IBA against the recommendation. At the time of the executive board’s recommendations, the IBA said it was a “truly abhorrent and purely political move.”

What’s been said?

Before the vote had taken place, the IOC president Thomas Bach said: “We do not have a problem with boxing. We do not have a problem with boxers. The boxers fully deserve to be governed by an international federation with integrity and transparency.”

What’s happened?

An independent investigation took place in 2022 which said boxing needed to take action on ethical issues in order to secure its Olympic future after they found there had been a “historical culture of bout manipulation”, including at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

The final report also detailed years of financial mismanagement as well as deception, rule breaking in the ring and inadequate training and education programmes for referees, judges and officials.

Earlier this year, nations such as Great Britain boycotted the men’s and women’s World Championships after the IBA lifted its ban on Russian and Belarusian boxers, with the governing body allowing them to compete under their countries’ flags which opposed IOC guidance. At the time, the Russian IBA president Umar Kremlev said that the boycotting of the championships was “worse than hyenas and jackals” because of their violation of the “integrity of sport and culture.”

The Russian president has been in his role since 2020 and was re-elected unopposed in May 2022 after the Dutch boxing federation president Boris van der Vorst was declared ineligible. The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled this month that Van der Vorst was wrongly prevented from standing but a proposal to stage a new election was rejected by IBA delegates.

The IOC responded to this by saying it was “extremely concerned” by the result and Van Der Vorst added he feared for the sport’s Olympic future.

What is World Boxing?

World Boxing was formed as a breakaway international federation in April. It is to seek IOC recognition but it could take up for two years for a body that was created only three months ago. Among the five pledges it made, the new organisation said it will “keep boxing at the heart of the Olympic movement” as well as “ensure the interests of boxers are put first.”

The organisation is led by an interim board made up of representatives from Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, Sweden and the United States.