LAUSANNE: The IOC reiterates its threat to exclude boxing from the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics if national federations continue to work with the suspended International Boxing Association (IBA), the crisis-hit sport's quadrennial This casts new doubt on the future of trade fairs.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) withdrew its recognition of the IBA in 2019, citing long-standing financial, sporting integrity and governance issues. Boxing at the 2024 Paris Olympics will be held under the supervision of the IOC.
After the Tokyo Olympics, this will be the second consecutive time that the IBA will not take part in a match at this mega event.
Boxing is still “on hold” for the 2028 Olympics, IOC sports director Kit McConnell said at a news conference here after the IOC executive board meeting on Tuesday.
“Following the decision of last year's IOC General Assembly, the inclusion of boxing in the LA28 Olympic program is pending and has not been approved,” McConnell said.
“Without a boxing organization supported and promoted by national federations, we are not in a position to include boxing in the Olympic program,” he added.
The IOC has tasked national federations with the responsibility of breaking away from the IBA, led by Russia's Umar Kremlev, and creating a new global governing body to secure the future of boxing. Boxing has been part of every Olympic Games since 1920.
“It's up to the national federations to drive this change and work to create bodies that we can work with, because we can't move forward in this status quo,” McConnell said.
Olympic qualification for the Paris Games is organized under the authority of the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit (PBU), a special committee established by the IOC Executive Board.
“The IOC EB has once again made clear that this must be the last time the IOC undertakes such a process,” McConnell added.
The IOC also reiterated that even if boxing is added to the 2028 Olympic program, the IBA will not be involved in its organization.
“It has also been made clear that the IBA will not be involved in organizing a boxing tournament in LA28 if boxing is included in the sports program at the IOC General Assembly to be held in Mumbai in 2023,” McConnell said. Ta.
It is worth noting that last year a group of national federations, including the United States and Great Britain, launched a new organization, World Boxing, with the aim of securing the long-term future of the sport in the Olympic Games. .
The governing body is seeking approval from the IOC to represent boxing at the Olympics.
The IBA subsequently suspended national federations in Germany, New Zealand, Sweden and the Netherlands from participating in what the world body calls “fraudulent” boxing organizations.
Meanwhile, the IBA has appealed the IOC's expulsion decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), but no ruling has yet been made.
(issued March 20, 2024, 09:27 IST)
