According to a Washington Post article, boxing may be excluded from the 2024 Olympics in Paris. The IOC, in a statement Thursday, issued a firm warning that some of the recent decisions made by the International Boxing Association (IBA) could lead to the "cancellation of boxing" at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The IBA is the governing body of amateur boxing.
The qualifying period for the 2024 Olympics in boxing is due to start on May 1. When the IBA was still called AIBA, the organization lost the right to hold boxing competitions at the 2019 Olympic Games. The IOC made this decision after numerous judicial scandals at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. In Tokyo in 2020, the IOC itself hosted the Olympic boxing competitions.
At the moment, boxing is not included in the program of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. But there is a chance that this sport could be added later.
Earlier this year, the IOC signaled that the IBA would not be hosting qualifiers for the 2024 Games in Paris. And then, in September, the IOC expressed “extreme” concern after the IBA supported Russian businessman Umar Kremlev to remain president and refused to hold a new election for its leader.
The IBA recently held a forum in Abu Dhabi. During this meeting, the Kremlin, joined by former world champions Roy Jones and Evander Holyfield, told those present that the IBA had implemented most of the recommendations given to them by the IOC. However, the IOC has its own opinion on the statements in this forum. The IOC is not happy with the way the IBA handled its presidential election. In May, Kremlev was re-elected to his post after his rival Boris van der Voorst from the Netherlands failed to run.
Back in June, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that van der Voorst should be eligible to run against the Kremlin for president. Despite the CAS decision, the IBA decided not to hold new elections and left Kremlev in his place.
“The recent IBA Congress showed once again that the IBA has no real interest in boxing and boxers, but only in its own strength. The decisions and discussions to keep boxers out of the Olympic Qualifiers and the Olympic Games cannot be understood in any other way. It has also become clear once again that the IBA wants to digress from its own serious governance issues that the IOC drew attention to back in 2019. The IBA has no desire to deal with real issues, on the contrary: the expansion of the sponsorship contract with Gazprom as the sole main sponsor of the IBA reinforces the concerns that the IOC has repeatedly expressed since 2019,” the IOC said in a statement.
“This statement confirms that IBA will continue to depend on a company that is largely controlled by the Russian government. The concern also includes the recent review of the CAS decision, which did not result in a new presidential election, only a no-vote. The IOC will have to take all of this into account when it makes further decisions that may - after all recent events - include the exclusion of boxing from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games."
