On April 9, at the 48th General Assembly of the Association of International Individual Sports Federations of the Summer Olympics held in Birmingham, England, the Summer Olympic Association officially announced the cancellation of the membership of the International Boxing Association.
Prior to this, the International Boxing Association had also been "removed" by the International Olympic Committee, and the future Olympic prospects of boxing were still undecided.
For a sport plagued by mismanagement and corruption, there are too many challenges to regain its life on the international stage, especially on the Olympic stage, and even far from seeing the light for the time being.
After the Paris Olympics, the Olympic future of boxing remains uncertain.
The illness is severe, and the prospects for the Los Angeles Olympics are uncertain
Eight years ago, in the boxing ring of the Rio Olympics, there were many controversial decisions.
Chinese boxer Lu Bin lost a staggering 16-8 match in an absolutely dominant situation, and he knelt down to kiss the ring in tears, and then he posted a bombardment: The referee stole my dream.
There is far more than one similar situation in the Rio boxing ring: Kazakhstan's Levitt also sparked controversy after being judged to lose to Russia's Tishchenko in the final, and Kazakh netizens even launched a campaign to "make a gold medal for Levitt".
Irish fighter Michael Curran gave the referee a middle finger on the spot after the loss to the Russian and questioned the FIA's corrupt trading after the fight.
Chinese boxer Lu Bin is a victim of refereeing problems.
The huge refereeing battle also became the fuse for the breakdown of the relationship between the International Boxing Association and the International Olympic Committee. Subsequently, Canadian lawyer McLaren produced a 152-page investigation report after investigation, saying that 11 boxing matches during the Rio Olympics had match-fixing and money transactions.
In November 2019, the IOC's task force announced that all 36 boxing referees at the Rio Olympics were banned from refereeing boxing matches at the Tokyo Olympics. The IOC Boxing Task Force hosted the boxing task force for the Tokyo Olympics.
At the Paris Olympics, boxing competitions will still be hosted by the IOC. As of now, boxing has not been included in the program of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
However, according to foreign media reports, Christophe de Kepa, director general of the International Olympic Committee, once "guaranteed" in a public statement that boxing would not be absent from the Los Angeles Olympics.
Management is chaotic and the future is uncertain
After the Rio Olympics, the rectification reports given by the three successive presidents of the International Boxing Association were not recognized by the IOC. Financial situation, rule system, penalty criteria, prohibited drug use, political environment...... Many problems have made it difficult for the International Boxing Association to "pass".
In June 2023, in the online plenary session held by the International Olympic Committee, the decision to "revoke the recognition of the International Boxing Association" received 69 votes in favor, 1 vote against and 10 abstentions. This is the first time in the 128-year history of the IOC that it has refused to recognise the qualification of an international federation.
The FIA then appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, requesting that the IOC's decision be invalidated. And on April 6, the Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected the International Boxing Association's appeal.
The ICOSS panel found that the International Boxing Association had failed to comply with a series of demands imposed by the IOC, including improving financial transparency and sustainability, changing referee-related processes to ensure fairness, and carrying out internal cultural reforms.
The IOC said that given the wide range and high social inclusion of boxing, they also wanted boxing to be included in the program of the Los Angeles Olympics, but due to management reasons, it was difficult for the IOC itself to continue to organize boxing events in the Olympic Games after the Paris cycle.
Like any sport, the IOC needs to find a credible and recognised international sports organization as a partner to ensure the longevity of boxing on the Olympic stage.
In the past year, boxing management organizations in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and other countries have established a new organization called "World Boxing" in addition to the International Boxing Association, and have absorbed boxing institutions from Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, New Zealand, Brazil and other countries to join.
However, in terms of scale, there is still a big gap between the institution and the International Boxing Association, and the body has not yet been officially recognized by the IOC.
The future of boxing remains unclear.
Source: The Paper