Summer Olympic federations exclude IBA, call for new boxing body

The Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) on Tuesday excluded the International Boxing Association and called for a new organisation to take over the sport’s global duties.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided last year to strip the IBA of recognition over its failure to complete reforms on governance, finance and ethical issues.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) earlier this month rejected the IBA’s appeal.

The IOC has since urged national boxing federations and national Olympic committees (NOCs) to find a partner international federation by next year at the latest to keep the sport in the Olympics.

“After we waited for the appeal at CAS and the decision of the IOC was confirmed we had no choice to follow our constitution,” ASOIF president Francesco Ricci Bitti told a press conference.

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“Now we are waiting for some alternative organisation. Boxing is a very important sport.”

The boxing tournaments at the Paris 2024 Games this summer are being organised by the IOC but the Olympic body has repeatedly said it could not continue doing that. Los Angeles will host the 2028 Olympics.

Rival body World Boxing, who will seek recognition from Olympic organisers to replace the IBA and keep the sport on the programme for the 2028 Games, has claimed it should be the new federation the IOC partners with.

“This is up to the IOC. We hope that the alternative body that will come into the picture will be representative of the real sports organisations which are the national bodies,” Ricci Bitti said.

The IBA said it was disappointed by the ASOIF decision.

“While this outcome is profoundly disappointing, we wish to stress our unwavering commitment to the sport of boxing and our remarkable athletes and coaches across the globe as the IBA starts its recognition journey,” the IBA said in a statement.