International Olympic Committee removes IBA from Olympics

The International Boxing Association (IBA) has been expelled from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for failing to finish reforms including governance, finances, and ethical issues.

On Thursday, 69 members of the IOC voted in favour of banishing the IBA, with just one member voting against it.

Ten members didn't participate in the vote. The executive board, which is led by IOC President Thomas Bach, advocated the IOC's decision two weeks ago, thus it seemed inevitable that it would be adopted.

However, boxing will continue to be an Olympic event at the 2024 Paris Games.

“We highly value the sport of boxing. We have an extremely serious problem with IBA because of their governance,” Bach told IOC members during their online meeting.

The IOC had issues with the IBA's management, which included Russian and Uzbek presidents, as well as its financial support from the Russian government's energy company, Gazprom, as well as the fairness of the competition and the judging.

As it did for the Tokyo Games in 2021, the IOC is already in charge of organizing boxing competitions for the Paris Olympics without consulting the IBA.

It was unclear whether boxers competing for national federations who continue to be IBA members would be considered eligible for the Paris competition.