Boxing
IOC strips IBA rights to host boxing events of Paris 2024 Olympics
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has stripped the International Boxing Association (IBA) of its rights to organise boxing events at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games due to ongoing concerns over governance issues within the organisation.
This includes qualifying events for the Games, meaning this will be the second consecutive Olympics where the IOC will organise events without the International Federation.
IOC sports director Kit McConnell said the recent Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) case that found IBA Presidential hopeful Boris van der Vorst should have been able to stand after being deemed ineligible, was the last straw.
“The IOC felt enough was enough and in the interest of the athletes and the boxing community, has decided the boxing qualifying events and competition will not be run under the authority of the IBA,” said McConnell.
“This decision is centred on the athletes themselves to provide certainty on the Olympic competitions and the Olympic qualifications leading up to Paris 2024 and follows the very concerning issues that continue to go on in the IBA.
“To give athletes certainty, the IOC Board had to step in.”
In response, the IBA said it was “deeply disappointed” with the decision, and added it would take time to “carefully consider its next steps.”
Concerns outlined by the IOC included IBA’s finances, refereeing and judging system, as well as its governance.
It added that no host city contracts had been signed for IBA’s proposed Paris 2024 qualification system, with just two years until quota spots have to be finalised.
A letter to Kremlev from IOC director general Christophe de Kepper and Pâquerette Girard Zappelli from the IOC chief ethics and compliance office – seen by insidethegames – said the decision to remove IBA from Paris 2024 preparations was unanimous.
McConnell added the IOC had not decided the format of the boxing taskforce for Paris or if it would bear similarities to the one used at the Tokyo Games, mentioning a proposal would be sent back to the Executive Board for approval.
He acknowledged that the “limited pool of qualified referees and judges” was an issue, but promised they “will again go through a very extensive review and process”.
“The IOC administration will finalise on an exceptional basis alternative models for the organisation of these boxing competitions, working closely with the Paris 2024 Organising Committee and athletes’ representatives,” he added.
“The outcomes of these discussions and suggested recommendations will then be presented to the IOC Executive Board in due course.”
Boxing’s position for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games is to be discussed at a later date.
Van der Vorst was set to stand against incumbent IBA President Umar Kremlev in the election in Istanbul last month at the Extraordinary Congress, however he was one of five hopefuls deemed ineligible the day before voting by the Boxing Independent Integrity Unit (BIIU).
USA Boxing chief executive Mike McAtee, Swedish Boxing Federation President Per-Axel Sjöholm, Steve Hartley, the President of Boxing New Zealand, and Danish Boxing Association President Lars Brovil were all deemed ineligible, with all but Brovil deciding to appeal.
The BIIU found the five to have breached rules related to early campaigning and collaboration between candidates, however, the CAS threw out the collaboration claim.
The CAS did find that the candidates had breached early campaigning rules, but Kremlev had done so too.
It added that this breach should have led to a warning or no sanction, but not a ruling of ineligibility.
IBA, then known as AIBA, had its IOC recognition withdrawn in June 2019 due to concerns over judging and refereeing, financial stability and governance, leading to the IOC Boxing Task Force handling the sport at Tokyo 2020.
International Gymnastics Federation President Morinari Watanabe chaired the Task Force.
IBA said it was “deeply disappointed” by the IOC’s decision, citing it had passed “key elements” of its proposed qualification system today in its Board meeting.
“With the IBA Board having been elected only last month and with key elements of the Olympic qualification system having been approved today, as previously indicated to the IOC, IBA is deeply disappointed by the IOC’s decision and will now take some time to carefully consider its next steps,” read the statement.
“Meanwhile, IBA will continue working on reforming its governance, financial integrity and sporting integrity to ensure boxers and IBA itself can enjoy a fair chance and a fair fight.”
IBA is to hold a second Extraordinary Congress in September or October this year, with Kremlev and van der Vorst expected to run for Presidency.
-insidethegames
Undisputed heavyweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk has been released after detention by law-enforcement officers at Poland’s Krakow airport, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday.
“I was outraged by this attitude towards our citizen and champion,” Zelenskiy said on the Telegram messaging app.
“Our champion was released and no one is detaining him anymore.”
It was not immediately clear why the 37-year-old Usyk was detained. The WBC, WBO and WBA champion, who also won gold at the 2012 London Olympics, has been a national hero aiding Kyiv’s war efforts.
Poland’s foreign and interior ministries did not immediately reply to Reuters’ requests for comments.
“Friends, everything is fine,” Usyk said in an Instagram post. “There was a misunderstanding that was quickly resolved. Thank you to everyone who was concerned.”
He added, “Respect to the Polish law enforcement officers who perform their duties regardless of height, weight, arm span, and titles.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X that his ministry will contact the Polish foreign ministry, as it considered the detention “disproportionate and unacceptable in relation to our champion.”
Polish TVP Info, a television news channel run by state broadcaster TVP, published a social media video on its website showing Polish law-enforcement officers walking the handcuffed Usyk through what appeared to be an airport.
Reuters was not able to independently verify the video.
Usyk beat Tyson Fury in May to become undisputed heavyweight boxing world champion in a thrilling contest at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh.
The 37-year-old Ukrainian is the first boxer to hold all four major heavyweight belts at the same time and the first undisputed champ since the end of Lennox Lewis’ reign in April 2000.
Usyk’s charity fund, Usyk Foundation, aids Kyiv’s forces in the war that Russia launched with a full-scale invasion against Ukraine in 2022. It buys, among others, ambulances and delivers humanitarian aid to the front line.
Usyk’s wife, Yekaterina Usyk, who posted a blurred photo of her husband surrounded by uniformed officers, said in an Instagram post in English that she was thankful her husband was free after a misunderstanding.
-Reuters
Mike Tyson said he was fit and ready for his Nov. 15 fight against Jake Paul as the two boxers had a joint news conference in New York City on Sunday.
The match was originally scheduled for July 20 but was postponed after former heavyweight champion Tyson, 58, had an ulcer flare-up that forced some resting time.
“Iron Mike”, who has a 50-6 record with 44 knockouts, was one of the most feared heavyweights in history but has not fought a professional fight since 2005.
When asked why he returned to the ring so long after retirement, Tyson’s response was clear: “Because I can. Who else can do it but me? We have a YouTuber fighting the greatest fighter ever to live.”
“He may have been in the ring with people who have the same intentions, but the actuality, no.
“As soon as I catch this guy it’s going to be totally over, he is going to run. He is gonna run like a thief.”
Paul, who was booed and heckled by the crowd, claimed he would put Tyson to sleep.
“I am here to make 40 million dollars and knock out a legend,” Paul said.
“I love Mike and I respect him but we are not friends anymore until Nov. 15,” he said.
When asked if he was afraid of being in the ring with Paul, Tyson replied sarcastically: “I am terrified.”
YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul, 27, is 31 years his junior and has a 10-1 boxing record.
The fight will be streamed live globally on Netflix and will take place at the 80,000-seat AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, home of the Dallas Cowboys.
-Reuters
Finland’s Robert Helenius has been banned for two years due to Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) for the presence and use of a prohibited substance for his bout against Britain’s Anthony Joshua in August 2023, UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) said on Friday.
Former heavyweight world champion Joshua beat stand-in Helenius with a seventh round single-punch knockout at the London O2 Arena.
But Helenius’s sample from a voluntary drug test the day before the bout tested positive for clomifene, which the Finnish boxer said may have originated from consuming eggs and chicken.
Helenius, now 40, was provisionally suspended and UKAD said he was unable to provide proof that “the eggs and chicken meat he had consumed in advance of the bout originated from hens that had been administered clomifene”.
“Mr Helenius was therefore unable to identify the source of clomifene in his sample and therefore unable to reduce the applicable period of ineligibility of two years,” UKAD added.
However, UKAD said that since Helenius was provisionally suspended on Sept. 18, 2023, he has already served 10 months of his ban which will expire on Sept. 17, 2025.
-Reuters
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