IOC

03 April 2024 – The IOC welcomes the decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which has dismissed the appeal filed with it by the International Boxing Association (IBA) against the IOC’s decision to withdraw recognition of the IBA.

The CAS announced yesterday:

QUOTE:

In its final award, the CAS Panel noted that, as at the date of the Appealed Decision, the IBA had not complied with the conditions set down by the IOC for recognition, namely:

1. The IBA had not increased its financial transparency and sustainability including through diversification of revenues.
2. The IBA had not changed its process relating to referees and judges to ensure its integrity, including a monitoring period for IBA’s own competitions ahead of the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
3. The IBA had not ensured the full and effective implementation of all the measures proposed by the “Governance Reform Group” established by the IOC, including a change of culture.

UNQUOTE

Following the IBA’s suspension and the subsequent withdrawal of its recognition by the IOC, the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 boxing tournaments, including the qualification process, were and are being organised by boxing units set up by the IOC. This has been done to protect the sport of boxing and the athletes. Because of the universality and high social inclusivity of boxing, the IOC wants it to continue to feature on the programme of the Olympic Games.

Unfortunately, this is far from certain for the Olympic Games LA 2028 because, for governance reasons, the IOC is not in a position to organise another Olympic boxing tournament. To keep boxing on the Olympic programme, the IOC needs a recognised and reliable International Federation as a partner, as with all the other Olympic sports.

The establishment of such a federation, which respects the IOC conditions for recognition, is now in the hands of the National Boxing Federations and their National Olympic Committees (NOCs). These conditions include good governance, the integrity of competitions, transparency of finances and accounts, and autonomy. Every National Boxing Federation and every NOC that wants its boxers to make their Olympic dreams a reality and win medals will now have to take the necessary decisions. The NOCs and National Boxing Federations thus hold the future of Olympic boxing in their own hands, and the required actions cannot be clearer.

At the moment, boxing is not on the sports programme for the Olympic Games LA28. In order to remedy this, the IOC needs to have a partner International Federation for boxing by early 2025.