The IOC has decided not to recognize the IBA
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) removed the status of the International Boxing Association (IBA) as the world governing body for boxing.
According to the statement on the IOC website, the decision was made as a result of the support of 69 out of 70 members in the vote held at the extraordinary meeting held on the recommendation of the executive committee. The reason for the decision was cited as the IBA’s failure to complete reforms in management, finance and ethics.
The IOC, which previously stripped the IBA of the right to host boxing competitions at the 2024 Paris Olympics as well as the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, has declared that the IBA will not be able to host competitions at Los Angeles 2028.
IBA REACTION
“With this decision, the IOC has made a tremendous mistake by revealing its true politicized nature,” says the assessment made on the IBA website.
Arguing that the IOC has successfully implemented all the recommendations in its roadmap, the IBA management said: “Despite the difficulties, we remain committed to the development of boxing, the preservation of its independence, the organization of official tournaments of the highest level and the World Boxing Championship. championships. “We stand ready to defend our legal right to do so before the proper authorities.”
The IBA, headed by Russian Umar Kremlev, took the IOC Executive Board’s recommendation not to recognize it to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), but its objection was not justified.
In the statement of the World Boxing Federation (World Boxing), which was established in April as an alternative organization, it was noted that the IOC decision was a turning point for boxing and they welcomed it.
THE REASONS BEHIND THE IOC DECISION
The IOC’s decision was influenced not only by governance, financial and ethical issues, but also by IBA concerns about issues such as the arbitration system and financial dependence on the Russian energy company Gazprom.
One of the issues the IOC was uncomfortable with was the IBA’s Provisional Nomination Unit’s failure to find Dutchman Boris van der Vorst and three other candidates ineligible for election one day before the General Assembly of Ordinary Elections in the IBA hosted by Istanbul in 2022.
Ruling that Van der Vorst was unfairly prevented from running in the election, CAS also concluded that IBA President Kremlev had violated the same rule and stood in the election as the only candidate. But Van der Vorst’s proposal to hold new elections was rejected by the IBA delegates. (AA)