(Reuters) – 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 organizing 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.
Both the IOC and World Boxing were contacted by Reuters for comment on the IBA move.
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.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Christian Radnedge)
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