The International Boxing Association (IBA), previously known as the Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur (AIBA), is an independent
sport
Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...
organization that sanctions
amateur (Olympic-style) boxing matches and awards world and subordinate championships. IBA consists of five continental confederations — AFBC, AMBC, ASBC,
EUBC,
OCBC. The association includes 203 national boxing federations.
IBA was recognised by the
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...
(IOC) as the international
governing body
A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ge ...
for the sport of boxing until 2019, when the IOC suspended its recognition of the federation.
Names
* from August 24, 1920 — the International Federation of Amateur Boxers (Fédération Internationale de Boxe Amateur, FIBA);
* from November 28, 1946 — Amateur International Boxing Association, AIBA;
* On November 22, 2007, as part of the AIBA reform, the name was changed to the current one, — International Boxing Association - but the abbreviated name was decided to remain the same.
*In December 2021, the abbreviated name was changed to IBA in an attempt to rebrand the organisation and distance itself from the former administration.
Competitions
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:
* AIBA Open Boxing (AOB), formerly known as amateur or Olympic boxing
* AIBA Pro Boxing (APB), a professional boxing league
*
World Series of Boxing
250px, LA Matadors vs. Moscow Dynamo in Hollywood, CA on 4 December 2011. Both amateur boxers compete without vests or head guards.
The World Series of Boxing or WSB was an international boxing tournament that allowed amateur boxers to compete p ...
(WSOB), a semi-professional team tournament
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.
History
During the
1920 Summer Olympics
The 1920 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1920; nl, Olympische Zomerspelen van 1920; german: Olympische Sommerspiele 1920), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIe olympiade; nl, Spelen van ...
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. The FIBA was dissolved and the
English Amateur Boxing Association in partnership with the
French Boxing Federation
The French Boxing Federation french: Fédération Française de Boxe or FFB) is the governing body of both amateur and professional boxing in France.
Presidents
Emile Grémaux was the President of FFB for a long time.
Martin André is the cu ...
decided to create AIBA; the Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur. The President of the French Boxing Federation,
Emile Grémaux
Emil or Emile may refer to:
Literature
*''Emile, or On Education'' (1762), a treatise on education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
* ''Émile'' (novel) (1827), an autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life
*''Emil and the Detective ...
, was elected to the position of President.
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
The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...
. In December 2017, the
IOC
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...
expressed concerns about the governance of AIBA under Wu's leadership, and reaffirmed these concerns at an IOC Executive Board decision in February 2018. 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
is a Japanese businessman who has served as president of the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique since January 2017. Prior to his election in October 2016, he served as general-secretary of the Japan Gymnastics Association (2009–16) and ...
(JPN), President of the
International Gymnastics Federation
The International Gymnastics Federation (French: Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique, FIG) is the body governing all disciplines of competitive gymnastics. Its headquarters is in Lausanne, Switzerland. It was founded on July 23, 1881, in ...
.
On December 12, 2020, Umar Kremlev was elected as AIBA President, gaining 57.33% of the vote. The IOC had concerns, but Kremlev declared himself "the most clean candidate" and promised reforms. On December 13, 2020, AIBA adopted a new constitution. In 2021, Olympic champion, two-time World champion István Kovács was appointed General Secretary of AIBA. Later that year, AIBA appointed Professor Ulrich Haas to lead the AIBA's Independent Governance Reform Group.
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. 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.
On April 7, 2021, AIBA's new management signed a cooperation agreement with
Gazprom
PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐzˈprom) is a Russian majority state-owned multinational energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. As of 2019, with sales over $120 billion, it was ranked as the larges ...
, because of which the Russian company received the status of the organization's General Partner. AIBA stated they had paid off all debts, including a $10 million debt to the Azerbaijani company Benkons LLC. On May 28, 2021, AIBA signed an agreement with the international military sports council
CISM. In the same year, the organization signed an agreement with the
International Testing Agency
The International Testing Agency, often referred to by the acronym ITA, is an independent organisation constituted as a non-profit foundation which implements anti-doping programs for international sports federations, major event organizers ...
(ITA).
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. 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. In December 2021, AIBA's National Federations implemented a series of constitutional amendments which included changing the abbreviated name to IBA.
In September 2022, IBA voted against a presidential election, cementing Kremlev's position as the organization's president.
Kremlev, a Russian national with ties to
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
, has moved much of IBA's operations from Lausanne, Switzerland to Russia, has spent heavily on apparent self-promotion and opposed independent appointment of judges and referees.
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
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
.
In late September, 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. Ukrainian boxers refused to follow the requirements. On October 4, IBA canceled its previous decision and allowed Ukrainian boxers to compete under their flag. A day later, 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. On October 6, Finland and Sweden announced that they would boycott IBA events with Russian or Belorussian boxers.
In November 2022, IBA signed a cooperation agreement with the
WBA.
Presidents
*
Émile Grémaux
Émile Grémaux (1893 – 18 September 1959, in Lille) – boxer, coach and businessman. Long serving President of the French Boxing Federation
The French Boxing Federation french: Fédération Française de Boxe or FFB) is the governing body o ...
(France), 1946–1959
* Lieutenant-Colonel Rudyard Russell (Great Britain), 1962–1978
* Colonel Don Hull (USA), 1978–1986
*
Anwar Chowdhry
Anwar Khurshid Chowdhry (26 October 1923 – 19 June 2010) was a Pakistani sports official who was President of the International Boxing Association (amateur), International Boxing Association from 1986 to 2006. His career spanned almost three ...
(Pakistan), 1986–2006
* Kaner Doganeli (Turkey), 2006, act.p.
*
Ching-Kuo Wu (Taiwan), 2006–2017
*
Gafur Rakhimov
Gafur Rakhimov ( uz, G'ofur-Arslonbek Ahmedovich Rahimov) (born July 22, 1951) is an Uzbek businessman and sports administrator who was the President of the International Boxing Association (AIBA) for 20 months until his resignation in July 2019 ...
(Uzbekistan), 2017–2019
* Mohamed Moustahsane (Morocco), 2019–2020, int.p.
*
Umar Nazarovich Kremlev
Umar Nazarovich Kremlev (Russian: Умар Назарович Кремлёв; born on November 1, 1982 in Serpukhov) is a Russian sports functionary who is serving as the President of the International Boxing Association (IBA). He has been Secre ...
(Russia), 2020–present
Headguards
AIBA changed its rules in 2016 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.
Roy Levesta Jones Jr. (born January 16, 1969) is an American former professional boxer who holds dual American and Russian citizenship. He competed in boxing from 1989 to 2018, and held multiple world championships in four weight classes, inc ...
and other prominent boxers have argued for their reinstatement in future tournaments.
Events
*
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
*
IBA World Boxing Championships
The IBA World Boxing Championships, and the IBA Women's World Boxing Championships (previously known as AIBA), are biennial amateur boxing competitions organised by the International Boxing Association (IBA), which is the sport governing body. A ...
*
Youth Olympic Games
The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) is an international multi-sport event for athletes between 15 and 18 years old, organized by the International Olympic Committee. The games are held every four years in staggered summer and winter events consiste ...
*
Youth and Junior World Boxing Championships
The IBA Youth World Boxing Championships and the IBA Junior World Boxing Championships are amateur boxing competitions organised by the International Boxing Association (IBA), the sport's governing body, for "Youth" competitors—ages 17 or 1 ...
*
Boxing World Cup
The Boxing World Cup was an international boxing event organized by the International Boxing Association (AIBA), featuring boxers competing in different weight divisions. It was held from 1979 to 1998 as an individual competition and from 2002 to ...
(inactive)
*
World Series Boxing
250px, LA Matadors vs. Moscow Dynamo in Hollywood, CA on 4 December 2011. Both amateur boxers compete without vests or head guards.
The World Series of Boxing or WSB was an international boxing tournament that allowed amateur boxers to compete p ...
(inactive)
See also
*
Anwar Chowdhry
Anwar Khurshid Chowdhry (26 October 1923 – 19 June 2010) was a Pakistani sports official who was President of the International Boxing Association (amateur), International Boxing Association from 1986 to 2006. His career spanned almost three ...
*
Val Barker Trophy
The Val Barker Trophy is presented every four years to the most "outstanding boxer" at the Olympic Games. In theory, the award goes to the top "pound for pound" boxer in the Olympics. The winner is selected by a committee of International Boxing ...
*
Boxing Association of Korea
The Boxing Association of Korea (BAK) is an affiliated organization of the Korean Olympic Committee. Its mission is the development and dissemination of amateur boxing in South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is ...
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Amateur boxing organizations
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