| International Boxing Association | |
| Size: | 240px |
| Abbreviation: | IBA |
| Formation: | 29–30 November 1946 |
| Type: | Sports federation |
| Headquarters: | Lausanne, Switzerland |
| Region Served: | Worldwide |
| Leader Title: | President |
| Leader Name: | Umar Kremlev[1] |
| Main Organ: | Congress |
The International Boxing Association (IBA), previously known as the Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur (AIBA), is a sports organization that sanctions amateur and professional boxing matches and awards world and subordinate championships. It is one of the oldest boxing federations in the world, coming into existence after the 1920 Summer Olympics. The IBA consists of five continental confederations, the African Boxing Confederation, American Boxing Confederation, Asian Boxing Confederation, European Boxing Confederation, and Oceania Boxing Confederation. The association includes officially 198 national boxing federations.[2] It is led by a committee headed by Umar Kremlev.
It governed boxing at the Summer Olympics until 2020, after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) suspended the organization in 2019 due to governance and finance issues under prior leadership. In the interim, an IOC-run task force oversaw the boxing competitions at the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics, with the sport's status for 2028 currently undetermined. In 2020, Umar Kremlev was elected president of the organisation, with a promise of taking on reforms and paying off the organisation's debt. It also commissioned an independent report indicating that there had been systemic attempts to manipulate match outcomes during the 2016 Olympics.
Kremlev's tenure has been controversial, with concerns raised by the IOC over its increasing ties to Russia after assuming the presidency (including moving offices to Russia and having state-owned Gazprom as sole sponsor for a period), opposition to the independent appointment of judges and referees, irregularities during subsequent presidential elections, and the controversial disqualifications of Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting during the IBA's 2023 world championships.[3] [4] Amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a group of national federations known as the Common Cause Alliance demanded transparency over the IBA's finances and the Gazprom sponsorship, and committed continued support for boxing as an Olympic event. In October 2022, the IBA lifted a ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes competing under their national flags, which had been imposed amid the invasion. Its 2023 world championships faced boycotts from a number of countries, and false statements by the IBA claiming that they were an "approved" qualifying path for the 2024 Summer Olympics. The Common Cause Alliance later evolved into a competing amateur boxing federation known as World Boxing.
In June 2023, the IOC voted to formally revoke its recognition of the IBA, due to a lack of sufficient progress on addressing governance, finance, and corruption concerns since the original suspension; the IBA became the first international federation to ever be expelled from the Olympic movement.
During the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, representatives from the national associations of England, France, Belgium, Brazil and the Netherlands met in a preliminary consortium for the foundation of an international boxing federation: The Fédération internationale de boxe amateur (FIBA). The official foundation has been celebrated on 24 August. Right after, international competitions appeared in the boxing arena, allowing amateurs to compete in well-known tournaments.In November 1946, a consensus was met to give way for the boxing governing body to regain the loss of credibility due to the behavior of some leading officials in World War II.[5] The FIBA was dissolved and the English Amateur Boxing Association in partnership with the French Boxing Federation decided to create the Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur (AIBA). The President of the French Boxing Federation, Emile Grémaux, was elected to the position of President.[6] Sixty years later, AIBA continued to govern boxing in the Olympic Games without using the word "amateur". Until now, amateur boxing has been present on all continents with continental championships as well as World Cups and World Championships organized by AIBA. In 2007, AIBA changed its full name to the "International Boxing Association" as part of a rebranding, albeit maintaining "AIBA" as its abbreviated name.[7]
The organization has been involved in multiple corruption scandals including on several editions of the Summer Olympic Games.[8] [9] In December 2017, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) expressed concerns about the governance of AIBA under Wu Ching-kuo's leadership,[10] and reaffirmed these concerns at an IOC Executive Board decision in February 2018.[11] In 2018, the IBA issued life bans to ex-president CK Wu and former executive director Ho Kim after a report documented "gross negligence and financial mismanagement of affairs and finances". Wu had been in charge for 11 years before being provisionally suspended in October 2017. Wu was replaced as AIBA president by Gafur Rakhimov.[12]
In June 2019, the IOC voted to suspend its recognition of AIBA as the governing body for the sport, stripping AIBA of any involvement in the Olympic Games. The IOC oversaw the qualification events and the boxing tournament at the 2020 Summer Olympics through a task force chaired by Morinari Watanabe, president of the International Gymnastics Federation.[13] [14] Rakhimov stepped down on 15 July 2019, amid scrutiny of his presence on a U.S. Treasury Department sanctions list for alleged ties to a criminal organization;[15] Mohamed Moustahsane of Morocco served as an interim president during this time.[16]
An Extraordinary AIBA Congress was held virtually in December 2020 to elect a new president, with the ballot contested between Moustahsane, Dutch Boxing Federation president Boris van der Vorst, and Umar Kremlev of the Boxing Federation of Russia. On 12 December 2020, Kremlev was elected as president of AIBA, receiving 57.33% of the vote.[17] After it was reported that the IOC had unrevealed concerns over some of the candidates, Kremlev had declared himself "the most clean candidate";[18] he promised reforms, efforts to reinstate the AIBA's status with the IOC, and to pay off its debt.
A new constitution was adopted the next day,, creating five new committees: the Coaches Committee, the Champions and Veterans Committee, the Competition Committee, the Women's Committee, and the Medical and Anti-Doping Committee. The 32-member executive committee was replaced with a 22-member board of directors; new members would be elected rather appointed by the president. The Medical and Anti-Doping Committee renewed AIBA's agreement with the International Testing Agency (ITA).[19] [20] In 2021, Olympic champion, two-time World champion István Kovács was appointed General Secretary of AIBA.[21] A program of financial assistance to national federations was also introduced.[22] AIBA increased the number of weight categories in amateur boxing for men and women to 13 and 12, respectively. The prize money for the World Championships was set at $100,000 for gold medal, $50,000 for silver and $25,000 for both bronze medals. AIBA appointed Ulrich Haas to lead the AIBA's Independent Governance Reform Group.[23] [24] [25] On 7 April 2021, AIBA's new management signed a cooperation agreement with Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom, through which it became the organization's "General Partner".[26] AIBA stated they had paid off all debts, including a $10 million debt to the Azerbaijani company Benkons LLC.[27] [28] [29] On May 28, 2021, AIBA signed a collaboration agreement with the International Military Sports Council.[30] [31] In September 2021, AIBA released an independent report commissioned from Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren, which had found that bouts leading up to and during the 2016 Summer Olympics had been manipulated.[32] [33] [34] The report found bouts had been manipulated for money (up to $250,000), the perceived benefit of AIBA, or to thank National Federations, their Olympic committees, or hosts of competitions for their financial support and political backing.[35] [36] [37]
In November 2021, the Independent Governance Reform Group recommended the replacement of the majority of AIBA's board of directors and a further reduction in membership to 18, citing a "severe loss of trust by major stakeholders, including the IOC" due to "poor or non-existent monitoring, investigation and prosecution of integrity issues". It also recommended the addition of a liaison officer as a point of contact between AIBA and the IOC, and the replacement of the Ethics and Disciplinary committees with a Boxing Integrity Unit, which would operate independently of AIBA.[38] These amendments among others, including term limits and new eligibility criteria for board members, were adopted in an Extraordinary Congress in December 2021. To mark the association's 75th anniversary, AIBA also unveiled a new logo and officially adopted "IBA" as its abbreviated name.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 had a notable impact on the perception of the IBA, and the impact of that event can be seen in both the attitudes of the IBA and towards the IBA and its competitions. The IBA initially followed the IOC's recommendation that Russian and Belarusian athletes not be allowed to compete under their national flags. A consortium known as the Common Cause Alliance was formed by 18 national federations, demanding that the IBA evaluate the impact of the invasion on itself and the Russian Boxing Federation, and seeking more transparency over its finances and the Gazprom agreement. It also pledged support for maintaining boxing on the Summer Olympic programme.[39] [40]
The IOC had been concerned about the IBA under Kremlev's leadership, citing the Gazprom sponsorship, having moved some of its operations to Russia, Kremlev having spent heavily on apparent self-promotion, and having opposed independent appointment of judges and referees.[41] [42] [43] He has also been identified as a close ally of President Vladimir Putin with Le Monde having suggested that Kremlev's leadership was "an opportunity to promote Russia's soft power" in the aftermath of the Russian doping scandal.[44] Prior to the IBA Congress in Istanbul in May 2022, the IOC sent a letter to the IBA detailing continued concerns for the organisation's "governance, financial sustainability and the proven integrity of the refereeing and judging systems", and noting that it had yet to produce any work on proposed qualification paths for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
At the Congress, five presidential election candidates connected to the Common Cause Alliance were deemed ineligible by the Interim Nomination Unit of the Boxing Independent Integrity Unit (BIIU) one day before the vote, accusing them of engaging in prohibited "collaborations" and campaigning outside of the designated period. One of the candidates—Boris van der Vorst (who criticised Kremlev's reforms thus far as having largely been "superficial")[45] —declared his intent to file an appeal in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), citing that the IBA's Disciplinary Committee had cleared the candidates, and ruled that the activities of the Common Cause Alliance were supportive of the IBA's mission. Kremlev was re-elected for a four-year term.[46] [47] Indian boxer Lovlina Borgohain was elected as the chair and a voting member on the board of directors for the IBA's Athletes' Committee.[48]
The BIIU decision was overturned by CAS; therefore, a special IBA Congress was held in September 2022 in Yerevan.[49] The IBA subsequently voted against a new election, cementing Kremlev's position as the organization's president. During a speech to the Congress, Kremlev began to distance the IBA from the IOC and Olympics, including stating that "Olympic boxing" should be referred to as "IBA boxing", and affirming that "no one else should have influence on the organisation".
During the Congress, the IBA also suspended the Ukraine Boxing Federation, accusing it of "government interference". At the 2022 European Junior Boxing Championships afterward, the Ukraine delegation was initially prohibited from competing under its flag due to the suspension, resulting in multiple boxers forfeiting their matches in protest. The IBA subsequently stated that the delegation would be allowed to compete under their flag.[50] [51] The IOC expressed concern over the suspension and the outcome of the vote, and stated that it would be investigated.[52]
On 5 October 2022, the IBA lifted its ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes competing under their flags, stating that it "strongly believes that politics shouldn't have any influence on sports." The move faced criticism, with Finland and Sweden stating that they would boycott any IBA-sanctioned event featuring Russian or Belarusian boxers.[53] [54] [55]
In November 2022, the IBA signed a cooperation agreement with the World Boxing Association, one of the four major sanctioning bodies in professional boxing.[56]
Boxing at the 2024 Summer Olympics would once again sanctioned by an IOC task force due to the suspension of the IBA. In December 2022, the IOC announced direct qualifiers incorporating the continental multi-sport events, and two world qualification events.[57] [58] Amid growing boycotts of the 2023 IBA World Boxing Championships by nations such as Canada, Czechia, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States, the IBA announced its own Olympic qualification system in February 2023 that incorporated the World Boxing Championships—which the IBA claimed had been approved by the IOC executive board in 2022.[59] [60] The IBA argued that the championships' exclusion from the IOC pathways were "against the principles of boxing", and criticised the IOC for having too few qualifying events. Due to the suspension, the IBA did not have the authority to sanction Olympic qualifiers;[61] USA Boxing accused the IBA of spreading misinformation to "sabotage" the qualification process, and the IOC reiterated that its system was the only approved qualification pathway for the 2024 Olympics.
In March 2023, Ajay Singh, President of the Boxing Federation of India (BFI), was appointed vice-president of the IBA.[62] During the 2023 IBA World Women's Boxing Championships that month, the IBA controversially disqualified Algerian boxer Imane Khelif hours before her gold medal match, and stripped Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting of her bronze medal, both reportedly for failing sex verification tests by having high levels of testosterone; Khelif had defeated a Russian opponent—the then-undefeated Azaliia Amineva—in the round of 16.[63] [64] [65] The IBA claimed that Khelif had tested positive on unspecified DNA tests for XY chromosomes; there has been no published medical evidence that Khelif has XY chromosomes or heightened testosterone.[66] [67]
A rival governing body known as World Boxing was launched in April 2023, with its interim board including officials from member organizations of the Common Cause Alliance.[68] [69] [70] USA Boxing concurrently became the first federation to explicitly withdraw from the IBA.[71] The IBA condemned World Boxing as a "rogue organization" whose sole purpose was to destroy the IBA's integrity, and threatened sanctions against national federations, athletes, and officials who participate in its events.[72] In May 2023, Kremlev stated that the IBA's sponsorship with Gazprom had ended in December 2022. He stated that while it was influenced by "recommendations" by other sports bodies, the decision was made independently.[73]
On 8 May 2023, the IBA-controlled European Boxing Confederation ordered member federations to withdraw from a tournament being hosted by the Czech Republic due to its violation of EUBC and IBA rules, as members of non-Imember USA Boxing had been registered as participants.[74] Later that month, the IBA suspended Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Sweden for their involvement in World Boxing. and Czechia for hosting an event including ineligible participants; van der Worst—who was named World Boxing's first president—stated that the suspensions were "yet another clear demonstration of how the IBA proclaims its implementation of reforms, such as the establishment of the Integrity Unit, only to subsequently make authoritative and retaliatory decisions that contradict its own regulations."
In October 2023, the IBA sent a cease and desist notice to World Boxing, asserting a trademark on "World Boxing" registered with the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property; however, the trademark had been registered a month after World Boxing's formation was announced.[75]
On 22 June 2023 during an Extraordinary IOC Session, the IOC executive board voted to withdraw its recognition of the IBA—marking the first time an international federation has been expelled from the Olympic movement. The board cited that the IBA had not shown sufficient progress on the concerns raised upon its 2019 suspension, including governance, finances, and corruption.[76] The decision was criticised by the IBA, which stated that it was "catastrophic for global boxing and blatantly contradicts the IOC's claims of acting in the best interests of boxing and athlete", and compared it to Nazi Germany's declaration of war on the Soviet Union (whose anniversary fell on the same day). World Boxing welcomed the decision, stating that it provided greater certainty for the future of boxing at the Olympics.[77] [78] The IOC's decision was upheld by CAS in 2024.[79]
In April 2024, the IBA announced the formation of a new professional boxing committee.[80]
During the 2024 Summer Olympics, Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting were both cleared to compete by the IOC under its own criteria.[81] [82] Controversy re-emerged during Khelif's round of 16 match against Italian boxer Angela Carini, who retired after taking two blows from Khelif. The match also resulted in Khelif receiving backlash from those who questioned her gender; Khelif is cisgender and was assigned female at birth.[83] [84] On 31 July 2024, regarding their 2023 decision, the IBA stated that Khelif and others "did not undergo a testosterone examination but were subject to a separate and recognized test, whereby the specifics remain confidential", and further alleged that they "were found to have competitive advantages over other female competitors".[85] The following day, the IOC issued a statement denouncing the IBA's original decision in 2023 as being "arbitrary" and "taken without any proper procedure." The IOC further stated:
Under the leadership of President Wu Ching-kuo, who ran AIBA from 2006 to 2017, the organization divided its competitions into three categories as part of Wu's overarching goal to govern boxing in all its forms:
Wu's two professional ventures were abandoned by AIBA largely due to the organization's financial woes, which led to Wu's resignation in November 2017. AIBA Pro Boxing staged bouts only from late 2014 to 2016, and the World Series of Boxing abruptly ceased operations amid mounting financial losses after its 2018 season.[86] [87]
France, 1946–1959
United States, 1978–1986
Pakistan, 1986–2006
Turkey, 2006, act.p.
Uzbekistan, 2017–2019
Morocco, 2019–2020, int.p.AIBA changed its rules in 2013[88] to ban headguards in AOB Elite Men competitions (19–40 years old) at the national, continental and international levels. Headguards are still mandatory for all other category competitions, including women's boxing at all levels. The Boxing Task Force for the Tokyo Olympics maintained the ban on headguards for men, but Roy Jones Jr. and other prominent boxers have argued for the association's reinstatement in future tournaments.[89]