In April, the International Olympic Committee won an arbitration confirming its right to suspend IBA from involvement in the Olympic Games and Olympic selection process. The IOC said it wanted to see a new governing body emerge within a year if Olympic boxing is going to be part of the 2028 games. (Boxing is already confirmed for the 2024 games in Paris). Here is the IOC's published comment: "Following the IBA’s suspension and the subsequent withdrawal of its recognition by the IOC, the Tokyo [2021] and Paris 2024 boxing tournaments, including the qualification process, were and are being organized by boxing units set up by the IOC. The IBA is currently feeling the effects of the IOC's efforts and likens it to "blackmail," Here is a statement just released by the the IBA regarding the pressure it is feeling from the Olympic community:
"The International Boxing Association (IBA) [believes that in] recent weeks, multiple National Olympic Committees (NOCs) are interfering directly in the business of the respective national boxing federations to intimidate them with funding cuts due to their membership with the IBA. The situation is totally unacceptable, nor within the spirit of our sport, and must be addressed and exposed immediately.
The IBA reiterates both its autonomy and independence from any other organization and requires the same respect for its member national federations. The attempts to breach this autonomy is a clear sign of direct interference by the IOC, no question. The IBA says it will "be taking the appropriate action."
"It is truly disrespectful when NOCs try to influence our national federations and blackmail them with the potential stripping of their financial support," IBA Secretary General and CEO Chris Roberts OBE stated. "IBA’s national federations are pivotal to us and will be supported at all costs. We have the full resources to support boxing competition and development worldwide, along with assisting our elite athletes independently. IBA’s National Federations should not be intimidated by this weak way of interference, which clearly has a direct link to World Boxing. A message to all of our National Federations who should be confident in their own independent existence, and, in turn, who will be supported by IBA."
The IBA says it will continue to function, and provide considerable prize money over the next four-year cycle until 2028 and has announced a global event calendar. IBA’s flagship pro-style event, Champions’ Night packed 2024 schedule will not disappoint with regular events touching all corners of the world with a yearly prize fund of $7 million.
PRIOR BOXINGTALK COVERAGE
APRIL 5, 2024: World Boxing, the amateur federation formed last year, is celebrating the arbitration ruling ending IBA's involvement in Olympic Boxing. In a new statement, World Boxing 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 decision by CAS to withdraw recognition of IBA and the subsequent comments by the International Olympic Committee [IOC] 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’.
“Any National Federation or NOC that continues to think its boxers will have an Olympic future elsewhere and without joining World Boxing is making a grave error that will be ruinous for the sport and hugely damaging for its boxers.
“For boxing to lose its place at the Olympic Games would be devastating for boxers at all levels in every part of the world. The Olympic Games provides inspiration and an unmatched platform for the sport. Without the Olympic Games, boxing and boxers will suffer. Fewer people will come into the sport at the grassroots and there will be less opportunities for elite boxers. This will damage the sport at every level and cannot be allowed to happen.
“This is an urgent situation and the clock is ticking. The leaders of boxing’s National Federations now have a critically important decision to make and we urge every one of them that cares about boxers and the future of the sport to apply to join and support World Boxing in its efforts to ensure boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic Movement, before it is too late.”
APRIL 3, 2024: After an arbitration ruling that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was within its rights to terminate the involvement of the International Boxing Association (IBA) in the Olympic boxing program, IBA released the following statement:
"IBA has disappointingly heard that the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) [rejected] IBA’s appeal against the decision of the IOC Session that withdrew the recognition of the organization. Despite the IBA’s hard working and diligent efforts to establish a robust and stable home of boxing for its athletes and coaches through extensive reforms, the association informs that its initiatives were overlooked by both the IOC and the CAS. The IBA strongly disagree with the oversimplified language of the CAS media release. First and foremost, the IOC has never provided any form of a coherent roadmap to the IBA nor established a direct communication channel even after the IBA proposed a liaison person to be available 24/7 for these associated matters. In fact, IBA has made considerable progress in all areas mentioned in the CAS media release and beyond. Among the key areas, it is worth mentioning that:
"The IBA Congress changed its Constitution and elected new Board of Directors that went through rigorous vetting process, reflecting the majority of recommendations of Ulrich Haas’ Governance Reform Group, and established the Boxing Independent Integrity Unit (BIIU) that is fully operational and consists of renowned legal experts;
The IBA cleaned its pool of competitions officials and established the processes to vet all involved in the Field of Play operations, including International Technical Officials and Referees & Judges. Prof. Richard McLaren used cutting-edge procedures to vet the officials and define the high-risk ones, which were excluded by the IBA with immediate effect. In addition, as an independent investigator, Prof. Richard McLaren helped IBA to reveal the reasons of the issues of the past and name those responsible for the wrongdoings;
The IBA wiped off multimillion debts and became financially sustainable and fully independent from the Olympic revenue with its income from events, as well as sponsors. IBA holds transparent politics in terms of finances, and ensures smooth organization of its competitions, as well as allocates prize money for major events.
In addition, IBA completely changed all staff from the very top down and throughout the organization, unlike those members who left IBA to cross over the road directly through the front door of the IOC offices.
The IBA feels that disregarding these and other improvements suggests a biased view. We further understand this noting that CAS is far from independent of the IOC, bringing those doubts based on comments from Thomas Bach on Tuesday; by virtue, his expectations of what would be happening, were interestingly released ahead of both parties receiving communication directly from CAS. He also announced the IOC’s victory in this dispute prior to the award being issued.
Driven by personal and purely political reasons, IOC President disrespected the Olympic Charter and discredited himself and the IOC as an organization naming the reason behind IBA’s recognition withdrawal. The IBA will refrain from further comments until the CAS award has been thoroughly analyzed by its legal experts which is taking place right now to draw a conclusion whether the organization appeals to the Swiss Federal Tribunal."
APRIL 2, 2024: The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed the appeal filed by the International Boxing Association (IBA) against a decision taken by the IOC that withdrew the IOC’s recognition of IBA as the internal federation controlling amateur boxing. The IOC made its decision based on the recommendation of its own Executive Board following a process that was initiated shortly after the 2016 Olympic Games. The IOC had requested that IBA adopt various measures to address serious concerns related to IBA's governance and financial stability. These measures included implementing a roadmap to satisfy the IOC that the IBA was successfully addressing ongoing areas of concerns ahead of the IOC session in 2023. The IOC was concerned about IBA to the point where the exclusion of boxing in the Olympic games was being discussed. Rather than comply, on June 27, 2023, the IBA filed an appeal with CAS against the decision of the IOC Session and sought to have it annulled and set aside in full.
The CAS conducted a hearing in November 2023 in Switzerland. In its final award, the CAS Panel noted that, as at the date of the appealed, the IBA had not complied with the conditions set down by the IOC for recognition, namely: (a) The IBA had not increased its financial transparency and sustainability; (b) 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 2024 Olympic Games; and (c) 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.
As a consequence, the CAS' panel of arbitrators determined that these three elements justified the IOC's decision to withdraw recognition of the IBA and emphasized that the IOC’s right to control the circumstances in and the conditions on which it confers recognition outweighed the IBA’s rights.
AUG. 9, 2023: USA Boxing, New Zealand Boxing, Boxing Australia, GB Boxing, England Boxing and the Dutch Boxing Federation have been confirmed as the first six official members of World Boxing, the new international federation established earlier this year to [supplant the corrupt IBA], keep boxing at the heart of the Olympic movement and support the growth and development of the sport at local, regional, national and international levels. All six countries have completed a rigorous application process and been approved as members by the Executive Board of World Boxing. The application process for National Federations to become members of World Boxing is overseen by the Secretary General, Simon Toulson, and designed to ensure that all applicants are deemed to be in good standing and, through their statutes and operating processes, are able to demonstrate:
A transparent and open election process for the appointment of office bearing roles
The existence and operation of WADA-recognsied anti-doping polices and processes
Evidence of a structured, dispute resolution and appeals process that is either fully independent or subject to external input
Formal recognition by either their National Olympic Committee (NOC) or Ministry for Sport
As each country’s recognised National Federation for the sport, USA Boxing, New Zealand Boxing, Boxing Australia, England Boxing and the Dutch Boxing Federation have been granted full membership status. GB Boxing has been granted Associate Membership as it is reponsible for managing Great Britain’s elite, World Class Programme (WCP) and taking the team to tournaments, such as the European Games and the Olympic Games, where boxers from England, Scotland and Wales compete as Great Britain.
All six members will attend World Boxing’s inaugural Congress in November 2023 and have the opportunity to nominate candidates for offices within the new international federation including the Presidency and Executive Committee and membership of Committees and Commissions. The five full members will have voting rights at the Congress.
The President of USA Boxing and a member of World Boxing’s Interim Executive Board, Tyson Lee, said: “It is very pleasing to see that the first cohort of World Boxing members includes National Federations from three continents as it is vital that World Boxing is a truly global endeavour with nations from across the world playing a role in contributing to the creation of a better future for the sport and everyone connected to it, based on collaboration, consultation and consensus.
“We look forward to working with World Boxing and all current and future members to create a global sporting structure that puts the interest of boxers first and operates with rigorous governance practices designed to deliver fairness and sporting integrity.”
World Boxing’s Secretary General, Simon Toulson, explained: “Transparency and rigorous governance is central to the way we operate as an organisation and all of the new members have been through a detailed and meticulous process to secure membership.
“We are currently processing a number of applications, which can be time consuming and take several weeks, so it is important that all National Federations who want to nominate candidates and vote in World Boxing’s inaugural Congress in November 2023 make their membership applications soon or they may miss the deadline for being able to participate in this event.”
World Boxing will be writing to all National Federations this week (w/c 7 August 2023) to invite them to apply and nominate candidates for the office bearing positions of World Boxing by 25 August 2023.
All nominations will be vetted by an independent third-party and the final list of approved candidates will be published in October 2023 – 30 days before the inaugural Congress. To be eligible to stand for election, all candidates must represent a National Federation or organisation that is a member of World Boxing.
World Boxing was launched in April 2023 and aims to ensure that boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic movement. It will seek recognition from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and plans to work constructively and collaboratively to develop a pathway that will preserve boxing’s ongoing place on the Olympic competition programme at Los Angeles 2028 and beyond.
JUNE 8, 2023: World Boxing is a non-profit international federation set up to administer the sports of Olympic-style (amateur) boxing, including paralympic boxing (also called “adaptive boxing”) and e-sport boxing. The new organization issued the following statement about IBA being on the verge of being ousted from running Olympic boxing: “IBA’s persistent failure to address longstanding issues over sporting integrity, governance, transparency and financial management has caused huge damage to international boxing and we welcome the clarity provided by the IOC in its statement today which states: ‘The Executive Board (EB) of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) today recommended to the IOC Session (on June 22nd) to withdraw recognition of the International Boxing Association (IBA), in accordance with Rule 3.7 of the Olympic Charter (OC)’".
“This is a very significant moment as it provides an opportunity for the sport (subject to the decision of the IOC Session on June 22nd) to move on from the corrosive leadership of IBA which has brought boxing to a place where its status as part of the Olympic program is in doubt. The loss of Olympic status would be devastating for boxing and have damaging long-term consequences, across the globe, for boxers and everyone connected with the sport, from the elite level to the grassroots."
“World Boxing was established to prevent this catastrophic situation from arising and to create a better future and is committed to working constructively and collaboratively with the IOC and all other stakeholders to develop a pathway that will preserve boxing’s ongoing place on the Olympic program."
“Boxing is at a crossroads, and we urge every National Federation that cares about boxers and boxing to think about how they can help to deliver a better for future for the sport and support World Boxing in its efforts to keep boxing at the heart of the Olympic Movement.”
