(Reuters) – The International Boxing Association (IBA) has appealed to the Swiss Federal Court following a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) rejecting the association's bid to regain full Olympic recognition.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to strip the IBA of its recognition a year ago for not completing governance, financial and ethical reforms. The CAS rejected the appeal in April.
Rival organisation the World Boxing Association is seeking recognition from the IOC, which would replace the IBA, to keep the embattled sport on the programme for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics after the Paris Games, which start this month.
The IBA, headed by Russia's Umar Kremlyov, said in a statement on Tuesday that it had appealed to a Swiss court and would now investigate whether the CAS decision was unlawful.
The CAS is the highest court in sport.
“We appealed to the court because we felt that the CAS violated our right to be heard and did not properly analyze all the issues and arguments we presented,” IBA Secretary-General and CEO Chris Roberts said.
Boxing at the Paris Games is organised by the IOC, but the Olympic committee said it could not continue.
While the IOC regularly removes and adds sports to the Olympic Games, it is extremely rare for the Olympic body to strip an international sports federation of its recognition.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London; Editing by Ed Osmond)
