International Boxing Association urges federations to join legal action in Switzerland against IOC

LAUSANNE – The International Boxing Association (IBA) urged its national federations on Oct 7 to join legal action in Switzerland against what it called the “abusive behaviour” of Olympic organisers.

The IBA and International Olympic Committee (IOC) have been at loggerheads since the boxing body, led by Russian Umar Kremlev, was stripped of recognition in 2023 over its failure to implement governance and finance reforms.

The tournaments at the last two Olympics have been organised by the Swiss-based IOC, which has said boxing will not feature at the 2028 Los Angeles Games, if national federations fail to appoint a new global body.

The IBA said in a statement that it had submitted a formal complaint to the Swiss Competition Commission in August, accusing the IOC of “unfairly dominating the global market for organising and marketing the Olympic Games”.

“The IOC is using its influence to prevent boxers from participating in the Olympics if their national federation is affiliated with IBA, which violates fair competition standards under Swiss law,” it added.

The IBA said the IOC had since pressured national Olympic committees (NOC) to exclude IBA-affiliated national federations from their membership, actions the boxing body considered to be unlawful.

“In response to this situation, IBA invites all its national federations to join in legal action against the IOC in Switzerland,” it said.

“By working together, we can increase our chances of ending this pressure from both the IOC and the NOCs.

“National federations interested in joining the legal proceedings should contact IBA as soon as possible.”

A new body, World Boxing, was launched in 2023 aiming to secure the sport’s Olympic future but had attracted only 44 federations by early September with time running out.

“The IOC has expelled the IBA and it made clear to all national federations that boxing will only be restored to the programme for Los Angeles 2028 if it has a trusted and reliable international federation to work with that has support of national federations,” a World Boxing spokesperson said.

“World Boxing is that international federation and we urge all national federations that want their boxers to have the opportunity to compete at a future Olympic Games to act now and take steps to apply for membership of World Boxing, as this is the only path that will see boxing remain a part of the Olympic movement.”

Two weeks ago, World Boxing appointed former middleweight world champion Gennady Golovkin as the chairman of its new Olympic commission.

“For me personally, as well as for all the sports world, it is important to preserve boxing as an Olympic sport, and this will be my top priority,” Golovkin said.

“I also intend to work closely with the IOC on issues of boxing’s commitment to the Olympic values ​​of honesty, fairness and transparency.

“I am confident that my experience as a professional athlete will help build systemic work within World Boxing.

“Through joint efforts we will be able to give boxing a new impetus to its development, but there is still much to be done.”

IBA said it would also support legal cases at national level.

“We need to take serious actions to protect our member federations, our athletes and support staff alike,” said IBA secretary-general and chief executive officer Chris Roberts.

“We will not stand by while our people face undue pressure and exclusion.”

At the Paris Olympics, the boxing competition was overshadowed somewhat by the drama involving Algerian Imane Khelif and Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yu-ting, with much debate over their eligibility.

The two were disqualified from the 2023 world championships by IBA, which said sex chromosome tests had ruled them ineligible. But they won gold in Paris after the IOC stripped the IBA of its status and organised the boxing competition itself.

In September, World Boxing announced that it will host its inaugural world championships in Liverpool in 2025. REUTERS