The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has withdrawn recognition of the International Boxing Association (IBA), formerly known as Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur (AIBA), in connection with allegedly unresolved finance, governance and ethical issues.
It is the first time in the IOC history that a sport’s governing body is expelled from the Olympic movement. This decision was made upon the recommendation of the IOC’s executive board, which met remotely on June 22, in accordance with Rule 3.7 of the Olympic Charter and based on the “IOC Comprehensive Report on the Situation of the International Boxing Association” dated June 2, 2023. According to the report, “the IBA has failed to fulfill the conditions set by the IOC in its decision communicated to the IBA on 9 December 2021 – which was not challenged by the IBA – for lifting the suspension of the IBA’s recognition.” The decision to expel the IBA was backed by 69 members, with one vote against it and ten abstentions. The IOC previously suspended the IBA in 2019 and has now stripped the sports organization of its IOC and amateur sport’s governing body status.
In response to the IOC’s decision, the IBA has released an “Official Communication to the Leadership and Members of the IOC” in which it states that “the IOC has made a tremendous error by withdrawing its recognition of the IBA, revealing its true politicized nature.” The IBA also compared the move to Germany’s actions in the Second World War, “when Germany launched an attack on the peaceful citizens of the Soviet Union.” The president of the IBA is Russian Umar Kremlev, a role he has held since 2020.
In April 2023, a breakaway international federation called World Boxing was formed with the manifest intention of seeking IOC recognition. Meanwhile, since boxing is part of the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics, qualifications for Paris 2024 are being run by the IOC and not by the IBA, as was the case at Tokyo 2020.
