PARIS: The International Boxing Association (IBA) has fulfilled all reform criteria and it would be “criminal” if the International Olympic Committee (IOC) drops boxing from Olympics, IBA President Umar Kremlev said on Saturday. The IOC suspended the IBA in 2019 over finance and governance issues and did not involve it in running boxing events at the subsequent Tokyo Olympics either. The strained relation between the sports bodies further soured after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year. The amateur boxing’s governing body defied IOC guidance and lifted a ban on the Russian and Belarusian boxers competing under their flags last October. Kremlev said IBA under him had put corruption and bankruptcy behind itself to emerge as an efficient organisation. The IOC plans to keep IBA out of the qualification process for next year’s Olympics in Paris too, while boxing is not on the initial programme for the 2028 Los Angeles Games. Kremlev said any move to drop boxing from Olympics would be the “most criminal decision in the history of Olympic movement” which would face a backlash.
IBA warns IOC against dropping boxing from Olympics
Published on: March 27, 2023 8:45 AM