According to a story first reported by the Washington Post, boxing could be dropped from the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The IOC sent a firm warning in a statement Thursday, that some of the recent decisions that were made by the International Boxing Association (IBA) could lead to “the cancellation of boxing” for the 2024 Paris Games. The IBA is the amateur boxing governing body.
The 2024 Olympic boxing qualifying period will start on May 1
Back when the IBA was known as the AIBA, the organization lost its Olympic recognition in 2019.
The IOC became fed up with the IBA in the aftermath of officiating scandals in connection with 2016 Rio Olympics. The IOC ran the Tokyo Olympic boxing competition in 2020.
Boxing was not included on the initial program for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. But, there is still a chance the sport could be added later on.
Earlier in the year, IOC made it clear that the IBA would not run qualifying competitions for the 2024 Paris Games. And then in September, the IOC expressed “extreme” concern after the IBA backed Russian businessman Umar Kremlev to remain as the president rather than hold an election.
A forum was recently held by the IBA in Abu Dhabi. During that gathering, Kremlev – who was joined by former world champions Roy Jones and Evander Holyfield – told those in attendance that the IBA implemented most of the recommendations given to them by the IOC.
However, the IOC was not moved by the recent forum.
They are not pleased with the IBA’s handling of their presidential election. Kremlev was re-elected in May after an opponent, Boris van der Vorst of the Netherlands, was barred from running against him.
Back in June, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that van der Vorst should have been eligible to run against Kremlev for the presidential position. Despite the CAS’ ruling, the IBA decided not to hold a new election and opted to keep Kremlev in place.
“The recent IBA Congress has shown once more that IBA has no real interest in the sport of boxing and the boxers, but is only interested in its own power. The decisions and discussions to keep boxers away from the Olympic qualifiers and the Olympic Games cannot be understood differently. It has also become clear again, that IBA wants to distract from its own grave governance issues by pointing to the past, which has been addressed by the IOC already in 2019. There is no will to understand the real issues, the contrary: the extension of the sponsorship contract with Gazprom as the sole main sponsor of IBA reinforces the concerns, which the IOC has expressed since 2019 over and over again,” the IOC explained in a statement.
“This announcement confirms that IBA will continue to depend on a company which is largely controlled by the Russian government. The concerns also include the recent handling of the CAS decision which did not lead a new Presidential election, but only a vote not to hold an election. The IOC will have to take all this into consideration when it takes further decisions, which may – after these latest developments – have to include the cancellation of boxing for the Olympic Games Paris 2024.”