THE Irish Amateur Boxing Association (IABA) supports the principles of amateur boxing breakaway group World Boxing which has already received the backing of powerhouses USA and Great Britain.
World Boxing has been established in response to ongoing issues with the International Boxing Association (IBA - formally AIBA) which has been dogged by controversy and, under its governance, boxing has been threatened with expulsion from the Olympic Games.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) banned the IBA in 2019 over governance issues and alleged corruption and World Boxing will seek IOC recognition.
IABA, the governing body of Irish amateur boxing which is Ireland’s most successful Olympic sport, hasn’t formally joined World Boxing but in statement it supported the new international governing body’s five core principles:
World Boxing will keep boxing at the heart of the Olympic movement.
World Boxing will ensure the interests of boxers are put first.
World Boxing will deliver sporting integrity and fair competitions.
World Boxing will create a competition structure designed in the best interests of the boxers.
World Boxing will operate according to the strongest governance standards and transparent financial management.
In February, the IABA Board of Directors and Central Council decided not to send Irish teams to the IBA Women’s World Championships or the IBA Men’s World Championships because they felt the IBA’s practices and activities were not “of the standard required to secure our sport’s future”.
An IABA statement released yesterday said that since February there had been no improvement in the IBA’s performance in relation to “fiscal responsibility, fair play and inclusion”.
IABA President Gerry O’Mahony explained: “The Irish Athletic Boxing Association remains committed to its view that all members deserve a level playing field in tournaments run to the highest possible standard by an organization which has their welfare, their futures, and their sport at its heart.
“All IABA boxers deserve the Olympic dream, and deserve to hold the hope and potential for climbing atop that podium.
“That can only continue to be possible for today’s Boy and Girl 1s, boxing their first ever national championships this week, with a global governing body which places the Olympic movement at its core.”
Interim CEO, John Nangle added: “We advised our members in recent months that decisions lie ahead – those decisions will be in the hands of our over 350 clubs, and will guide how Irish boxing develops at home, and on which international stage IABA boxers take to the ring.”
World Boxing will be led by an interim board made up of representatives from Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, Sweden and the USA.
Boxing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics was organised by the IOC amid concerns over the IBA's finance, governance, ethics, refereeing and judging and will be again for Paris 2024.
Of grave concern is that boxing has been left off the initial programme for Los Angeles 2028 as the IBA has refused to implement changes the IOC wants.
The programme for Los Angeles 2028 will be finalised by the IOC in October.
In 2022, an independent investigation said boxing needed to take action on ethical issues to secure its Olympic future, having found a "historical culture of bout manipulation" - including at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
"It is vital that boxing continues to remain at the heart of the Olympic movement and to achieve this we need to re-establish a relationship of trust between those that govern the sport and all of its stakeholders,” said Matthew Holt, chief executive of GB Boxing.
"World Boxing aims to deliver this by creating a financially transparent organisation with strong governance structures that delivers sporting integrity and fair competition and acts in the interest of boxers and the sport."
