LAUSANNE: The International Boxing Association (IBA) urged its national federations on Monday to join legal action in Switzerland against what it called the “abusive behaviour” of Olympic organisers.

The IBA and International Olympic Committee (IOC) have been at loggerheads since the boxing body, led by Russian Umar Kremlev, was stripped of recognition last year over its failure to implement governance and finance reforms.

The tournament at the last two Olympics has been organised by the Swiss-based IOC, which has said boxing will not feature at the 2028 Los Angeles Games if national federations fail to appoint a new global body.

The IBA said in a statement it had submitted a formal complaint to the Swiss Competition Commission in August, accusing the IOC of “unfairly dominating the global market for organising and marketing the Olympic Games”.

“The IOC is using its influence to prevent boxers from participating in the Olympics if their National Federation is affiliated with IBA, which violates fair competition standards under Swiss law,” it added.

The IBA said the IOC had since pressured National Olympic Committees to exclude IBA-affiliated national federations from their membership, actions the boxing body considered to be unlawful.

“In response to this situation, IBA invites all its national federations to join in legal action against the IOC in Switzerland,” it said.

“By working together, we can increase our chances of ending this pressure from both the IOC and the NOCs. National federations interested in joining the legal proceedings should contact IBA as soon as possible.”

A new body World Boxing was launched last year aiming to secure the sport’s Olympic future but had attracted only 45 federations by early September with time running out.

“The IOC has expelled the IBA and it made clear to all national federations that boxing will only be restored to the programme for Los Angeles 2028 if it has a trusted and reliable international federation to work with that has support of national federations,” a World Boxing spokesperson said.

“World Boxing is that IF and we urge all NFs that want their boxers to have the opportunity to compete at a future Olympic Games to act now and take steps to apply for membership of World Boxing as this is the only path that will see boxing remain a part of the Olympic Movement.” The IOC was also contacted for comment.

IBA said it would also support legal cases at national level.

“We need to take serious actions to protect our member federations, our athletes and support staff alike, we will not stand by while our people face undue pressure and exclusion,” said IBA secretary general and CEO Chris Roberts.

Published in Dawn, October 8th, 2024