PARIS, November 16, 2023 – The International Boxing Association (IBA) president Umar Kremlev says he is not worried about the outcome of the IBA’s appeal against its expulsion from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which is being heard in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) today, November 16 in Lausanne, Switzerland. At the hybrid press conference organised by the boxing body on the same day in Paris, France, Kremlev rather emphasised that the IBA, as the “home of boxing” is mostly concerned about its athletes. 

APPEAL In June, the IBA, initially suspended in 2019, became the first governing body to be stripped of its Olympic recognition after years of governance, finance, refereeing and ethical issues. “The decision was unfair,” Kremlev insisted, “but we have legal experts who are dealing with this.” He explained that if CAS does not rule in their favour they will refer to the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland. "We will defend our rights. If it doesn't work with CAS we have a court in Switzerland that we can refer to to defend our cause... Boxing's destiny should be decided by boxers themselves. But in boxing often we say you have to take two steps back in order to have a knockout. Sometimes you come out on top, sometimes you come out second. Every boxer knows this  but boxing is alive and we’re going to be defending our rights."

TO BE NUMBER ONE However the quest to “defend our rights” will not deter the IBA from providing the best conditions for their boxers to thrive, earn a living and also prepare for the Olympic Games – even though an IOC Task Force will organise boxing at Paris 2024 as was the case at Tokyo 2020. “Our ambition is to be the number one boxing association in the world, where you can fight as an amateur or a professional and you can make money,” Kremlev said. As a child who loved boxing but could not afford boxing gloves, the Russian said his “desire to instill fairness”, also in refereeing, led him to become president. 

IBA CONGRESS Kremlev revealed that 204 national associations will be taking part in the IBA’s Ordinary Congress scheduled for December 9 in Dubai, UAE, and this shows that the IBA is an independent association and one of the best global associations. Kremlev explained that out of the 204 NAs, 171 have voting rights. He said that the decision by some countries to withdraw from the IBA is “politically-motivated” and not supported by the boxers, and gave an instance of SwissBoxing, which reversed its decision to resign from the IBA rather than join rival group World Boxing, forcing its president Andreas Anderegg to quit after 17 years. “In these countries we have created national federations that will be part of the IBA. American boxers get in touch with me because they want to fight and don’t want to be involved in politics.” 

LIKE A CATHEDRAL Drawing inspiration from his recent meeting with the Pope in Rome, Kremlev said the IBA is like a cathedral for boxers, in favour of peace and friendship in the world. He urged sports federations to always put the athletes first. This is why he is against the idea of athletes being banned from competitions or being obliged to compete under a neutral flag because of conflicts and wars. “When we ask an athlete to compete under a neutral flag, it is humiliation. Athletes want to represent their people, their country, that’s why they take part,” he said. 

LA28 Boxing’s place in the LA28 Olympics programme is not yet guaranteed as the IOC said it is yet to recognise another governing body for Olympic boxing. But Kremlev expressed confidence that boxing will not be left out of the global showpiece. “Boxing is one of the cornerstones of the Olympic Games,” he said, adding that the Olympic Games would be less popular without boxing. 

IOC STATEMENT OF JUNE 2023 The IOC statement on the expulsion of the IBA reads: “Upon the recommendation of the Executive Board (EB) of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the IOC Session, which met remotely on 22 June 2023, has decided to withdraw recognition of the International Boxing Association (IBA), in accordance with Rule 3.7 of the Olympic Charter (OC). 

“This decision is based on the IOC Comprehensive Report on the Situation of the IBA dated 2 June 2023, discussed and approved by the IOC EB on 7 June 2023. The report establishes that the IBA has failed to fulfil the conditions set by the IOC in its decision communicated to the IBA on 9 December 2021 – which was not challenged by the IBA – for lifting the suspension of the IBA’s recognition. 

“As an additional consequence of the above decision, the IOC Session has decided that the IBA will not organise the Olympic Games LA28 boxing tournament.”