The International Olympic Committee has condemned the International Boxing Association’s decision to award cash prize money for medallists at this summer’s Games, citing a “total lack of financial transparency” within the organisation.
It comes as the IBA announced yesterday that they will bestow $100,000 to gold, $50,000 for silver and $25,000 for bronze medallists at Paris 2024, despite the reality that the organisation is not responsible for the competition after it was stripped of recognition by the IOC last year.
The heightened tensions between the two organisations had also sparked controversy over the future of the sport in the Olympics, with it being excluded from the initial programme of the Los Angeles 2028 Games.
In a statement, the IOC outlined that they have “taken note of the decision” but that “as always with the IBA, it is unclear where the money is coming from.”
“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,” it continued.
“Due to the suspension and the subsequent withdrawal of recognition by the IOC in 2023, the IBA had no involvement in either the qualification for or the organisation of the boxing tournament of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and is not involved for Paris 2024, either.
“The qualifications and the Olympic tournaments were and are being organised by boxing units set up by the IOC, to protect the athletes, the National Boxing Federations and their respective National Olympic Committees (NOCs).”
The statement then went on to mention that these reasons, amongst others, point towards why “boxing is currently not on the sports programme of the Olympic Games LA28.”
They also touch on how they have “made it very clear that [the IBA] cannot again organise such Olympic boxing competitions”, but that there could be a possible remedy to this.
“Olympic boxing needs to be organised by a credible, well-governed International Federation,” the statement reads.
“It is therefore already clear that any boxer whose National Federation adheres to the IBA will not be able to participate in the Olympic Games LA28. The respective NOC will have to exclude such a National Boxing Federation from its membership.”
More on International Boxing Association’s decision to award cash prize money
Other international sporting federations have also announced their intention to front prize money for medallists at this summer’s Olympic Games, with World Athletics becoming the first to do so just last month.
Given the Olympics' origins as an amateur sports event, the allocation of such prize money will not funnel through the IOC, who instead distribute funding through international sporting federations and National Olympic Committees rather than to individual athletes.
In a statement, IBA President Umar Kremlev, detailed how exactly this might break down.
“Paris gold medallists in the boxing tournament will receive a substantial financial reward of $100,000. Out of this amount, the athlete will receive $50,000, their National Federation will receive $25,000, and their coach will receive $25,000,” he says.
“Our athletes and their efforts must be appreciated. The IBA offers opportunities and invests considerably in our boxers, they remain as the focal point, and we will continue to support them at all levels,” he adds.
View this post on Instagram
