[Despite his organization being thrown out of the Olympics for corruption,] IBA president Umar Kremlev remained positive about the IBA’s future role at the Olympic Games. The basis for his belief is a change of guard that Kremlev hopes will take place at the International Olympic Committee. He told the IBA convention that, "The Olympics has always been around, and boxing has always been part of the Olympics, including in 2028 [Editor's note: boxing has not yet been approved as an Olympic sport for 2028]. If people try to scare you that it won’t be possible and to move small national federations left and right, I want all the federations to stay true to us. As for the International Olympic Committee, the election happens in March – so we shall see. The situation and the leadership will change." 

 

World Boxing, the amateur federation formed last year, has thrown its hat in the ring to become the IOC's designated organization in charge of the 2028 Olympic boxing tournament: “World Boxing welcomes the [April 2024] decision by CAS [the arbitration body for Olympic disputes] to withdraw recognition of IBA and the subsequent comments by the International Olympic Committee in which it expressed a desire to partner with a new International Federation that is committed to ‘good governance, the integrity of competitions, transparency of finances and accounts, and autonomy’.  That 'International Federation' [should be] World Boxing. The decision by CAS and the comments from the IOC send a clear and unambiguous message to all national federations that if they want boxers from their country to have the life-changing opportunity to continue to compete at future Olympic Games then they must now support and seek to join World Boxing, which is the last remaining hope for the sport to retain its status as an Olympic sport beyond Paris 2024. There is no alternative and the IOC has made it clear that the ‘National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and National Boxing Federations hold the future of Olympic boxing in their own hands’.