The International Boxing Association (IBA) announced on Wednesday that it will award prize money to boxers who win medals at the upcoming Paris Olympic Games, a move that has drawn sharp criticism from the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The IBA, supported by Russian state-owned gas corporation Gazprom, has been excluded from the Olympics by the IOC and had its recognition withdrawn due to alleged lack of financial transparency.
The IBA stated that it would follow the example of World Athletics, the global governing body for track and field, in awarding prize money to medal winners in Paris. While World Athletics will pay $50,000 to gold medallists but nothing to other medal winners, the IBA plans to allocate bonuses to gold, silver, and bronze medallists from a total budget of $3.1 million.
Reacting to the announcement, the IOC expressed concerns about the source of the prize money. “This total lack of financial transparency was exactly one of the reasons why the IOC withdrew its recognition of the IBA. The IBA was not prepared to transparently explain the sources of its financing or to explain its full financial dependency, at the time, on a single state-owned company, Gazprom,” the IOC said in a statement released by Christian Klaue, its Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Director.
The IBA is not involved in organizing boxing competitions for the Tokyo or Paris Olympic Games due to its suspension and subsequent withdrawal of recognition by the IOC in 2023. The IOC has set up its own boxing units to handle the qualifications and organization of these tournaments to protect the athletes, National Boxing Federations, and their respective National Olympic Committees (NOCs).
The IOC reiterated that boxing is not part of the sports program for the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028. The sport can only return if it is governed by a “credible, well-governed International Federation.” Additionally, the IOC warned that any national federations adhering to the IBA will be excluded from the Los Angeles Olympic Games, and their respective NOCs will have to exclude such National Boxing Federations from their membership.
The IBA is currently contesting the IOC’s actions in the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), and the outcome of this case will clarify the situation for the next Olympic Games.
