IOC bans boxing governing body from Olympics

LAUSANNE, Switzerland –

The International Boxing Association was banned from the Olympic family on Thursday, ending a years-long dispute fueled by the IOC’s disregard for advice and instructions. However, boxing will retain its status as an Olympic sport at the 2024 Paris Games.

The International Olympic Committee voted to scrap the IBA at a specially convened meeting — a result that was inevitable after it was recommended two weeks ago by the Board of Governors, a body chaired by IOC President Thomas Bach.

The vote was 69 to 1 with 10 members abstaining.

In the four years since the IOC became the sport’s governing body, boxing has never really been at risk of being kicked out of the Olympics in an attempt to force changes.

“We value the sport of boxing very much. We have an extremely serious problem with IBA because of their governance,” Bach told IOC members during their online meeting.

The dispute centered on the management of the IBA under presidents from Uzbekistan and Russia that the IOC disapproved of, finances backed by Russia’s state energy company Gazprom, plus the integrity of fighting and judging.

“The boxers fully deserve to be governed by an international federation with integrity and transparency,” Bach said.

The IOC already oversees boxing matches for the Paris Olympics without the intervention of the IBA, as it does for the 2021 Tokyo Games.

Boxing can now be confirmed on the 2028 Olympic program in Los Angeles, which the IOC and Bach withheld as leverage against IBA.

The sport boosts Olympic trade with broad appeal — 25 different nations won boxing medals in Tokyo, nine of them gold — and the IOC repeatedly said the problem was with boxing officials, not athletes.

“We value boxing as one of the most global sports. We embrace the values ​​of boxing,” Bach said, praising the sport’s “important social role in promoting inclusion.”