Kit McConnell, the International Olympic Committee's sports director, could not have made his position clearer.
“If boxing becomes part of the LA28 Olympic Games, the International Boxing Association will not be involved in any way,” he told a press conference held by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) this week.
So far, boxing is not included in the competition for the Los Angeles Games in four years.
“Unless a new boxing organization is established in cooperation with the IOC, there will be no boxing in the LA28 program,” McConnell stressed.
The IOC General Assembly stripped the IBA of its Olympic rights during its session in Mumbai in October last year. The IBA has been suspended since 2019 due to corruption allegations and refereeing issues. IBA is chaired by Russian Umar Kremlev, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin. The association is primarily funded by Russia's state energy company Gazprom.
27 federations are not enough
Boxing has a long Olympic tradition and has participated in both the Ancient and Modern Olympics since its creation in 1904.
At the 2021 Tokyo Summer Games, the IOC itself hosted the Olympic Boxing Tournament. The Paris Boxing Unit, an IOC organization, plans to do the same at the Olympics, which will be held in Paris from July 26 to August 11. But the IOC has said several times that this is the last time it intends to do so. The organization of Olympic competitions is usually the responsibility of the world federation of the sport concerned.
Last year, some national federations turned their backs on the IBA and created a new world federation called World Boxing.
“We realized that this is the only way to save Olympic boxing,” Michael Müller, sports director of the German Boxing Association (DBV), told DW.
Muller was one of the architects of the revolt against the IBA and currently serves on the board of World Boxing.
So far, World Boxing is made up of 27 national federations, including the United States, the most successful boxing nation in the Olympics. However, the number of members is still too small for the IOC to recognize it as the world governing body for sports. In comparison, the IBA still represents 195 associations, according to its own figures.
IBA continues to take on challenges
Germany also remains on the list of IBA member countries, albeit with the note “provisional”.
“The IBA is trying hard to exert its influence. The IBA has contributed to the creation of Germany's new association, the German National Boxing Association,” explained Müller.
“This money comes from IBA, probably Gazprom.The general secretary of this organization said: [new] The association did not hesitate to confirm this to us. “This is a futile attempt to destabilize the DBV,” Müller said, adding that “the situation is similar in other countries.”
Brazil is another example, where national associations also joined World Boxing, and then a new association loyal to the IBA was born.
Africa and Asia are undervalued
World boxing is still primarily comprised of countries in Europe, the Americas, and Oceania. The African and Asian federations have been quite reluctant to make this move, and one possible factor is the fact that the IBA has the financial means to make membership an attractive proposition.
Muller said the idea behind the World Boxing Association is completely different.
“We are looking to invest in the sport, including professional referees, electronic gloves and mouthguards, and objective camera systems to ensure we can make truly neutral and objectively measured decisions. .That costs money. But everything else is secondary.'' ”
Important judgments expected
Much will depend on the ruling of the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on the IBA's appeal against the IOC's decision to revoke boxing's status as an Olympic sport. CAS is expected to issue a ruling within the next few weeks. Michael Müller does not expect the IBA's appeal to be successful.
“The facts are clear: the IBA violates the Olympic Charter to a significant extent,” the World Boxing board member said.
“Nonetheless, the IOC is obliged to remain neutral until then. If CAS rules in the IOC's favor, we are always ready for consultations.”
The results are in the hands of the national federations.
At an IOC press conference this week, the IOC's McConnell said there was no clear timeline for determining whether boxing would remain an Olympic sport after Paris. However, he also said that decision-making rests largely in the hands of the national sports federations in IOC member countries.
“We have made it clear that the national federations support the development of new boxing bodies that we can work together with, and if we want to continue boxing, they can work together too. We need to make that clear and see progress.'' LA's program. ”
In other words, they need to join a new federation.
“If World Boxing wins Olympic rights from the IOC, it is clear that only World Boxing members will be able to participate in the Los Angeles Olympic qualifiers and therefore the Olympic tournament,” Muller said.
“We'll see how quickly countries make decisions in favor of fair and clean sport. I'm very optimistic about that.”
This article was originally written in German.
Editor: Jonathan Harding
