Abbreviation | IBA |
---|---|
Formation | 29–30 November 1946 |
Type | Sports federation |
Headquarters | Lausanne, Switzerland |
Region served | Worldwide |
President | Umar Nazarovich Kremlev [1] |
Main organ | Congress |
Website | IBA.sport |
The International Boxing Association (IBA), previously known as the Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur (AIBA), is an international sports organization that sanctions amateur (Olympic-style) boxing matches and awards world and subordinate championships. IBA consists of five continental confederations: AFBC, AMBC, ASBC, EUBC, and OCBC. The association includes 203 national boxing federations. [2]
The IBA was recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the international governing body for the sport of boxing until 2019, when the IOC suspended its recognition of the federation; [3] in 2023, the IOC formally stripped the IBA of its status, [4] upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in 2024. [5]
There are five confederations of IBA: African Boxing Confederation, American Boxing Confederation, Asian Boxing Confederation, European Boxing Confederation, Oceania Boxing Confederation. [6]
Under the leadership of President Wu Ching-kuo, who ran AIBA from 2006 to 2017, the organization divided its competitions into three categories as part of Wu's overarching goal to govern boxing in all its forms:
Wu's two professional ventures were abandoned by AIBA largely due to the organization's financial woes, which led to Wu's resignation in November 2017. AIBA Pro Boxing staged bouts only from late 2014 to 2016, and the World Series of Boxing abruptly ceased operations amid mounting financial losses after its 2018 season. [7] [8]
This article is missing information about time period from February–September 2022.(October 2022) |
During the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, representatives from the national associations of England, France, Belgium, Brazil and the Netherlands met in a preliminary consortium for the foundation of an international boxing federation: The Fédération internationale de boxe amateur (FIBA). The official foundation has been celebrated on 24 August. Right after, international competitions appeared in the boxing arena, allowing amateurs to compete in well-known tournaments.
In November 1946, a consensus was met to give way for the boxing governing body to regain the loss of credibility due to the behavior of some leading officials in World War II. [9] The FIBA was dissolved and the English Amateur Boxing Association in partnership with the French Boxing Federation decided to create AIBA; the Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur. The President of the French Boxing Federation, Emile Grémaux, was elected to the position of President. [10]
Sixty years later, AIBA continued to govern boxing in the Olympic Games without using the word "amateur". Until now, amateur boxing has been present on all continents with continental championships as well as World Cups and World Championships organized by AIBA.
The organization has been involved in multiple corruption scandals including on several editions of the Summer Olympic Games. [11] [12] In December 2017, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) expressed concerns about the governance of AIBA under Wu's leadership, [13] and reaffirmed these concerns at an IOC Executive Board decision in February 2018. [14] In June 2019, the IOC voted to suspend its recognition of AIBA as the governing body for the sport, stripping AIBA of any involvement in the Olympic Games. The IOC oversaw the qualification events and the boxing tournament at the 2020 Olympic Games through a task force chaired by Morinari Watanabe (JPN), President of the International Gymnastics Federation. [3] [15]
On December 12, 2020, Umar Kremlev was elected as AIBA President, gaining 57.33% of the vote. [16] The IOC had concerns, but Kremlev declared himself "the most clean candidate" and promised reforms. [17] [18] [19] On December 13, 2020, AIBA adopted a new constitution. [20] [21] [22] In 2021, Olympic champion, two-time World champion István Kovács was appointed General Secretary of AIBA. [23] Later that year, AIBA appointed Professor Ulrich Haas to lead the AIBA's Independent Governance Reform Group. [24] [25] [26] [27]
Under the new leadership, five new committees were created: the Coaches Committee, the Champions and Veterans Committee, the Competition Committee, the Women's Committee, and the Medical and Anti-Doping Committee. [28] In the process of Umar Kremlev's reforms, AIBA increased the number of weight categories in amateur boxing for men and women to 13 and 12, respectively. The prize money for the World Championships was set at $100,000 for gold medal, $50,000 for silver and $25,000 for both bronze medals. A program of financial assistance to national federations was also introduced. [29] [30] [31]
On April 7, 2021, AIBA's new management signed a cooperation agreement with Gazprom, because of which the Russian company received the status of the organization's General Partner. [32] [33] AIBA stated they had paid off all debts, including a $10 million debt to the Azerbaijani company Benkons LLC. [34] [35] [36] On May 28, 2021, AIBA signed an agreement with the international military sports council CISM. [37] [38] [39] In the same year, the organization signed an agreement with the International Testing Agency (ITA). [40]
To reveal the facts of manipulation at the boxing tournament at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and corruption of the past AIBA administration, Canadian lawyer Professor Richard McLaren was appointed by AIBA to conduct a three-stage investigation. [41] [42] [43] In September 2021, an independent report found that bouts leading up to and during the 2016 Rio Olympics were manipulated for money (up to $250,000), the perceived benefit of AIBA, or to thank National Federations, their Olympic committees, or hosts of competitions for their financial support and political backing. [44] [45] [46] In December 2021, AIBA's National Federations implemented a series of constitutional amendments which included changing the abbreviated name to the IBA. [47]
The International Olympic Committee has been concerned about the IBA under Kremlev's leadership. [48] Kremlev has ties to Vladimir Putin, has moved much of the IBA's operations from Lausanne, Switzerland to Russia, has spent heavily on apparent self-promotion, and has opposed independent appointment of judges and referees. [48] [49] The IOC has also been alarmed by the fact that the IBA's only sponsor is a Russian company that supports the Russian invasion of Ukraine. [48] In September 2022, the IBA voted against a presidential election, cementing Kremlev's position as the organization's president. [48]
In late September, the IBA banned Ukraine's national federation, telling the Ukrainian junior boxing team they must compete under the IBA flag at the European championships in Italy. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) expressed serious concern over and stated it would conduct a full review about the decision in December. [50] Ukrainian boxers refused to follow the requirements. [51] On October 4, the IBA cancelled its previous decision and allowed Ukrainian boxers to compete under their flag. [52] A day later, the IBA cancelled an IOC-imposed ban on boxers from Russia and Belarus from earlier that year in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russian and Belarusian boxers were allowed to compete with national flags and anthems in events with immediate effect. [53] On October 6, Finland and Sweden announced that they would boycott IBA events with Russian or Belarusian boxers. [49] [54] In November 2022, the IBA signed a cooperation agreement with the WBA. [55]
In February 2023, USA Boxing announced its decision to boycott the 2023 World Championships (organized by the International Boxing Association) where Russian and Belarusian athletes will compete with no restrictions, also accusing the IBA of attempting to sabotage IOC-approved qualification pathway for the 2024 Summer Olympics. Poland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Ireland, Czechia, Sweden and Canada later joined the U.S. [56] Rival World Boxing was launched in April 2023 with its interim board including officials from member organizations of the Common Cause Alliance. [57] [58] [59]
The IBA subsequently lost its IOC-recognized status in June 2023. [60]
AIBA changed its rules in 2013 [61] to ban headguards in AOB Elite Men competitions (19–40 years old) at the national, continental and international levels. Headguards are still mandatory for all other category competitions, including women's boxing at all levels. The Boxing Task Force for the Tokyo Olympics maintained the ban on headguards for men, but Roy Jones Jr. and other prominent boxers have argued for their reinstatement in future tournaments. [62]
Amateur boxing is a variant of boxing practiced at the collegiate level, at the Olympic Games, Pan American Games and Commonwealth Games, as well as many associations.
Boxing has been contested at every Summer Olympic Games since its introduction to the program at the 1904 Summer Olympics, except for the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, because Swedish law banned the sport at the time. The 2008 Summer Olympics were the final games with boxing as a male only event. Since the 2012 Summer Olympics, women's boxing is part of the program.
The IBA Men's World Boxing Championships and the IBA Women's World Boxing Championships are biennial amateur boxing competitions organised by the International Boxing Association, which is the sport governing body. Alongside the Olympic boxing programme, they are the highest level of competition for the sport. The championships were first held for men in 1974 and the first women's championships were held over 25 years later in 2001.
The most popular sport in Russia is soccer. According to Yandex search analysis results rating of the most popular sports among Russians: "Football topped the list of the most popular sports in Russia" with 5 to 10 million requests. Ice hockey came in second with handball, basketball, futsal, boxing, auto racing, volleyball, athletics, tennis, and chess rounding out the top ten rankings. Other popular sports include bandy, biathlon, figure skating, weightlifting, gymnastics, wrestling, martial arts, rugby union, and skiing.
The European Boxing Confederation(EUBC) is the European governing body in amateur boxing. It is a member of the world governing body AIBA. It came into existence on the adoption of its constitution on February 16, 2009, taking over the functions of the former European Amateur Boxing Association (EABA).
In boxing, a weight class is a measurement weight range for boxers. The lower limit of a weight class is equal to the upper weight limit of the class below it. The top class, with no upper limit, is called heavyweight in professional boxing and super heavyweight in amateur boxing. A boxing match is usually scheduled for a fixed weight class, and each boxer's weight must not exceed the upper limit. Although professional boxers may fight above their weight class, an amateur boxer's weight must not fall below the lower limit. A nonstandard weight limit is called a catchweight.
The Russian Boxing Federation (RBF) is the governing body of both Olympic-style and professional boxing in Russia. The Federation was founded on 1 February 1992 after the dissolution of the USSR Boxing Federation. The RBF is the member of the International Boxing Association and European Boxing Confederation.
The Oceania Boxing Confederation (OCBC) is the Oceania governing body in amateur boxing. It is a member of the world governing body AIBA. It came into existence on the adoption of its constitution on February 16, 2009, taking over the functions of the former Oceania Amateur Boxing Association (OABA). The Oceania Boxing Confederation is responsible for overseeing amateur boxing within the Oceania Region. Oceania is one of 5 Regional Confederations throughout the world. It is made up of 17 Nations within the Oceania Region.
Khadija Mardi, also known as Khadija El Mardi, is a Moroccan boxer. She is the current Heavyweight women's IBA World Boxing Champion.
Lovlina Borgohain is an Indian boxer. She won a bronze medal at the 2020 Olympic Games in the women's welterweight event, becoming only the third Indian boxer to win a medal at the Olympics. She won gold medal at 2023 IBA Women's World Boxing Championships and bronze medals at the 2018 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships and the 2019 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships. Borgohain is the first female athlete and the second boxer from Assam to represent the state in the Olympics. In 2020, she became the sixth person from Assam to receive Arjuna Award.
Umar Nazarovich Kremlev is a Russian sports functionary who is serving as the President of the International Boxing Association (IBA). He has been Secretary General and Member of the Executive Committee of the Boxing Federation of Russia since February 2017.
Oumaïma Belahbib, also known as Oumayma Belahbib or Oumayma Bel Ahbib, is a Moroccan amateur boxer, who won a gold medal at the 2017 African Amateur Boxing Championships, and a bronze medal at the 2019 African Games. She has competed in the welterweight event at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Wanderson de Oliveira is a Brazilian boxer. He competed in the men's lightweight event at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Abner Teixeira da Silva Júnior is a Brazilian boxer. He competed in the men's heavyweight event at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Imane Khelif is an Algerian amateur boxer. She represented Algeria in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
The Armenian Boxing Federation, also known as the Boxing Federation of Armenia, is the regulating body of boxing in Armenia, governed by the Armenian Olympic Committee. The headquarters of the federation is located in Yerevan.
The Uganda Boxing Federation (UBF) is the body mandated to organise, promote and develop the sport of boxing in Uganda as stipulated in the Sports Act of 1964 and other subsequent sports-related rules and regulations in Uganda. The UBF was founded in 1950 and is affiliated to the International Boxing Association.
World Boxing is an international sports organization regulating amateur (Olympic-style) boxing. It was formed in response to the International Boxing Association's (IBA) strained relationship with the International Olympic Committee (IOC). WB aims to campaign for the retention of boxing as an Olympic sport.
The 2023 IBA Women's World Boxing Championships were the 13th edition of the championships, held in New Delhi, India from 15 to 26 March 2023. India topped the medal tally for the first time after 2006.
The 2023 IBA World Boxing Championships were held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, from 30 April to 14 May 2023. Athletes from all five continents took part in the championship and competed for medals in 13 weight categories, which were approved by the Board of Directors of the International Boxing Association (IBA) in July 2021.