DPA
Berlin
The International Olympic Committee has excluded world amateur boxing federation the IBA from its ranks but the sport will still take place at Paris 2024.
At a virtual extraordinary IOC Session, 69 members voted in favour of exiling the IBA, with only one vote against.
The IBA, formerly known as the AIBA, has been suspended since 2019 because of allegations of corruption, leadership problems and distortion of competition.
“The IOC Session, meeting remotely, has withdrawn the recognition of International Boxing Association (IBA), upon the recommendation of the IOC Executive Board (EB),” an IOC statement said.
“(The) decision is based on the IOC Comprehensive Report on the Situation of the IBA, discussed by the IOC EB on June 7.”
A rival federation called World Boxing is already in place and may take over.
Qualification for Paris 2024 and the Olympic bouts are in the hands of a task force set up by the IOC - as was the case for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
IOC director general Christophe De Kepper said he could guarantee that boxing would also be at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
June’s report to the IOC board had found no significant improvements in the IBA’s governance.
The IBA has been fighting against the exclusion, saying it had done all the IOC had asked of it, but an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) was unsuccessful.
Earlier this week, the IBA announced a new interim secretary general and chief executive, but it made no difference to the IOC Session vote.
George Yerolimpos was replaced by Chris Roberts, who said in a statement on Monday: “The IBA is going through transformational times, and it is a great responsibility and honour for me to take on the position to invest in the boxing family with my time, experience, passion, and know-how.” The IBA is separate to the array of rival federations which run professional boxing.
