In boxing, the power struggle between the ailing world association escalates IBA and breakaway national associations. The IBA is threatening sanctions, and the German association could also be affected.
Since 2019 the International Boxing Association (IBA) already suspended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The IOC therefore organized the Olympic boxing tournament in Tokyo, and it will be the same in Paris in 2024. The traditional sport is missing from the preliminary program for the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles. The IOC sees no further improvement in the association, which has caused many a scandal in recent years under the leadership of Russian President Umar Kremlev.
The IBA vowed to improve, handed over a 400-page letter to the IOC in early May, in which it explained everything that was said to have been done to be accepted back into the Olympic family, which otherwise doesn’t let anyone fall so easily.
Breakaway associations at the elite tournament in the Czech Republic
When the letter arrived in Lausanne, the World Cup had already started in Tashkent. The tournament in the capital of Uzbekistan will last until May 14th.
A lot of good boxers are gathered in Tashkent, for example the Cubans, also the Kazakhs, just like the Russians and Belarusians, who have long since been admitted again by the IBA.
US boxers compete in the Czech Republic
However, many other good boxers are currently in Usti nad Labem. A traditional elite tournament for men and women is being held in parallel with the World Cup in the Czech city. There are 13 boxers from the USA, and the IBA sees that as an affront.
The United States Amateur Boxing Association recently withdrew from the IBA, two weeks after it “World Boxing” had founded. The new association wants to lead boxing out of the crisis and secure the Olympic future. The German Boxing Association (DBV) was also involved in the founding of “World Boxing”, but still remained under the umbrella of the IBA.
The sports show has received various letters that show an escalation of the power struggle between Kremlev’s IBA and breakaway associations that boycotted the World Cup because of the participation of Russians and Belarusians.
“Cancel immediately”, otherwise legal action
In one of the letters, the European Boxing Conferencethe European association loyal to the world association, the event in the Czech Republic “cancel immediately”. Otherwise sanctions threatened. What penalties are in the room, whether even an exclusion is considered, is not described in detail.
In another letter, the IBA contacted the Czech federation as the organizer directly and demanded that boxers, coaches and officials from the USA be immediately excluded from the tournament. In addition, the world association criticized the parallel schedule for the World Cup. This violates regulations, so legal action is reserved.
The Czech Republic relies on IBA boss Kremlev
The Czech FA responded on May 4, refusing the exclusion. Association President Marek Simak referred to a statement by Umar Kremlev. The IBA’s shady boss had said that athletes should not “victims of political decisions” should be. This view is supported by the Czech association, so the Americans should continue to participate in the Grand Prix in Ústi nad Labem.
Like the USA, Great Britain and the Netherlands, the Czech Republic is one of the countries that stayed away from the World Cup because of their rejection of the IBA.
Eleven German boxers in Ústi nad Labem, two “private players” at the World Cup
The German association also did not send any boxers to Uzbekistan. However, the official reason was that the tournament did not fit into the preparation for the European Games in Kraków, Poland (June 21 to July 2), which, unlike the World Cup, qualify as a qualification for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
The tournament in northern Bohemia seems to fit, because according to the entry list there are seven German boxers and four female boxers at the start in Ústi nad Labem. Therefore, the DBV is also threatened with sanctions.
Although the DBV did not officially send any athletes to Tashkent, two German boxers competed. Devrim Gökduman is even still in the tournament in the class up to 63.5 kilograms. On Saturday (May 6th, 2023) he is boxing against the Colombian Jose Manuel Viafara Fori for a place in the quarter-finals.
In a letter dated May 1st, the DBV asked the IBA to list the two German boxers as neutral athletes. “We value the fact that the athletes and the coach are a travel group of private individuals with German passports who in no way represent Germany or our association,” Michael Müller, sports director of the DBV, told the sports show. The IBA ignored the request, as the streams, registration and result lists show.
IBA refuses accreditation to sports show
The sports show, which had repeatedly reported critically about Kremlev and the world association, tried to get accreditation for the boxing world championship in Uzbekistan. It was rejected by the IBA. Reason: too little capacity for another TV team. ZDF was also denied accreditation.