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≡ LOS ANGELES 2028 ≡
“The NOCs shall no longer affiliate, or entertain any institutional relationship with, national boxing federations that are still affiliated to IBA.”
That is the operative clause from a letter sent by the International Olympic Committee to the National Olympic Committees on Monday (30th), concerning those national boxing federations still affiliated with the International Boxing Association.
The letter, signed by Director of NOC Relations and Olympic Solidarity James MacLeod (GBR), Sports Director Kit McConnell (NZL) and Legal Advisor Mariam Mahdavi (GBR), is a significant increase in pressure by the IOC to try and prop up the new but expanding World Boxing group as a new worldwide governing body for Olympic boxing. The letter notes:
● “As mentioned in the IOC statement dated 3 April 2024, ‘at the moment, boxing is not on the sports programme for the Olympic Games LA28. In order to remedy this, the IOC needs to have a partner International Federation for boxing by early 2025.’.
“As you may be aware, a new International Federation has recently emerged, but, as things stand, has yet to be recognised by the IOC.”
● “As further mentioned in the IOC statement dated 30 May 2024, ‘the IOC has made it very clear that it cannot again organise such Olympic boxing competitions. In order to remedy this, Olympic boxing needs to be organised by a credible, well-governed International Federation. It is therefore already clear that any boxer whose National Federation adheres to the IBA will not be able to participate in the Olympic Games LA28. The respective NOC will have to exclude such a National Boxing Federation from its membership.’”
The letter further instructs the NOCs to disregard their national boxing federation – if still a member of the IBA – as a voting member within the NOC, and beyond ending their affiliation with them, tells the NOCs to essentially join World Boxing:
“Depending on their respective statutes, the NOCs may decide to maintain or create an institutional relationship with any (existing or newly created) national boxing federation not affiliated to IBA, provided that such national boxing federation is affiliated, or in the process of being affiliated, or intends to affiliate, to a new international boxing federation established for the purpose of Olympic boxing.
“Such relationship shall be provisional and shall not entail obligatory voting member status under Rule 28.1.2 of the Olympic Charter until a new international boxing federation is recognized by the IOC.”
This could not be clearer: join the unnamed new federation – which is clearly World Boxing – or boxing will not be part of LA28 and may not be part of any Olympic Games going forward.
The letter underscores the IOC’s repeated statement that it has no issues with boxers, but with the IBA, run by Russian Umar Kremlev and financially supported by the Russian energy giant Gazprom. The IOC dismissed the IBA from the Olympic Movement in a specially-called Congress in June 2023 and the IBA’s appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to overturn the decision was dismissed.
World Boxing has been growing slowly, but too slowly for the IOC’s timetable. It had its foundational Congress in November 2023 and now has 44 federations, including USA Boxing, which was a charter member. It recently formed an “Olympic Commission” headed by famed boxing star Gennadiy “GGG” Golovkin, now the President of the National Olympic Committee of Kazakhstan. And Kazakhstan has applied for World Boxing membership.
Worry about Olympic boxing has also inflamed the Asian Boxing Confederation, which held an Extraordinary Congress in August to vote on whether to join World Boxing. That motion was defeated by 21-14, so another Extraordinary Congress has been called for 23 November in Thailand to discuss the future of Olympic Boxing.
At present, World Boxing has 15 members in the Americas, 13 in Europe, nine in Asia, five in Oceania and two in Africa. The IOC’s pressure is aimed directly at changing the views in Africa and Asia, especially and getting boxing back on the program for 2028.
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