Due to ongoing turbulence, the IOC has again withdrawn responsibility for qualification and Olympic competitions at the 2024 Summer Games from the International Boxing Association (IBA).
The traditional sport of boxing will remain in the program for the major event in the French capital, but the executive of the Order of the Rings came to the decision in a meeting on Friday (June 24th, 2022) that “in the interests of the athletes and boxing, the boxing qualification competitions and – competitions will not be held under the authority of the IBA in 2024.”
Worrying Issues
The IOC referred to “very worrying problems” in the IBA. Specifically, the ring organization criticized the referee and adjudicator system as well as the management structure in the IBA in its press release – only in May the Russian Umar Kremlev was re-elected as association president under controversial conditions. Kremlev is backed by Russian energy giant Gazprom, on which the struggling IBA is heavily dependent financially. The International Court of Arbitration for Sport CAS is currently dealing with the matter.
Olympic future uncertain
The IOC had already suspended the IBA in 2019. The reasons were manipulation of combat verdicts, opaque financial management and shady leaders such as the Uzbek Gafur Rachimov, who was said to be involved in international drug trafficking.
Whether boxing will be included in the program for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles “will be discussed at a later date,” the IOC said.