The International Olympic Committee on Wednesday denied plans by suspended governing bodies to pay boxers who win medals at the Paris Olympics.
The International Boxing Association (IBA) announced plans on Wednesday to pay compensation to boxing medallists, but the IOC rejected the move and said the IBA, which has no connection to the Paris Games, was not willing to explain the source of the funds, a long-standing source of tension and the reason the IBA was banned from the Olympics.
“As always with regard to IBAs, the source of the funds is unclear,” the IOC said in a scathing statement. “This complete lack of financial transparency is one of the reasons why the IOC has revoked its recognition of the IBA.”
Under the IBA proposal, each quarterfinalist in all weight classes for both men and women and their coaches would have received $100,000 for a gold medal, $50,000 for a silver medal and $25,000 for a bronze medal from a total prize pool of $3.1 million. National federations would also receive prize money for the winning boxers.
“Our athletes and their efforts must be recognised,” IBA president Umar Kremlev said in a statement before the IOC's ruling. “The IBA provides opportunities and invests heavily in our boxers. They remain at the heart of the sport and we will continue to support them at all levels.”
The proposed payment is the latest blow in a long-running dispute between the IOC and the IBA over the governance of the sport. Last year, the IOC voted to revoke the boxing organization's recognition on the recommendation of an executive board that believed promised changes had not been made.
In 2019, the IOC suspended its recognition of the IBA over a lack of financial oversight and concerns about fair judging and judging of competitions. The suspension left the IOC running the boxing program at the Tokyo Games instead of the IBA after the Olympics were postponed for a year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The IBA, which includes several continental-level member federations, is run by Kremlev, who was elected president in late 2020. Promising to clean up the governing body after it faced corruption allegations, Kremlev has set up several reform committees, expanded the number of weight classes for both men and women and, notably, introduced the same prize money for the world championships that was announced for the upcoming Olympics.
But the IOC has been concerned about Kremlev's dealings since taking over the IBA due to its suspected ties to Russian President Putin. Notable red flags include Kremlev's opposition to independent refereeing and judges at the games, his relocation of headquarters from Switzerland to Russia and his turning the IBA into his own marketing agency. The Washington Postand the IBA's sponsorship deal with Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom, which has supported Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022.
In September 2022, the IBA temporarily banned Ukrainian fighters from sanctioned competition in response to the IOC's banning of Russian and Belarusian athletes from the Tokyo Olympics. (During the COVID-19-postponed Olympics, athletes from those countries were allowed to compete under the IOC's flag and emblem, rather than their home/sponsoring nation's.) The IBA also opted not to hold presidential elections in 2022, allowing Kremlyov to extend his term in office.
Several countries, including the United States, Britain and Canada, have boycotted the 2023 world championships in reaction to the IBA's decision to allow Russia and Belarus to participate without any hindrance. They have also joined the IBA's rival IOC-backed organization, World Boxing, which needs further support to get boxing on the program for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
The IBA's prize money is higher, but the plan is similar to that of World Athletics, which has proposed paying prize money to medallists in track and field events.
