Following years of controversy, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has taken unprecedented action and stripped Olympic recognition from the International Boxing Association (IBA) after the latter's failure to reform regarding governance and finances.
However, IOC director general Cristophe De Kepper has said that boxing is 'guaranteed' to be in the 2028 Olympics in LA, which had hitherto been in doubt. The removal of the IBA may allow the IOC to focus on recognising World Boxing, a breakaway foundation formed earlier this year.
It is the first time the IOC has stripped recognition from any sport's governing body.
The decision was almost guaranteed after the IOC executive board recommended it last month, but was confirmed earlier this week by vote at an Extraordinary IOC Session.
The vote was 69-1 to expel the IBA, with ten members abstaining.
The IBA has been accused of corruption, including bout manipulation, for years, and was suspended by the IOC in 2019. Boxing will be administered by an IOC task force at the 2024 Paris games, as it was in the 2020 Tokyo games.
IBA President Umar Kremlev of Russia was confirmed in his role after an opponent was denied the opportunity to run against him.
The IBA also chose to let Russian and Belarusian athletes compete under their own flags after the invasion of Ukraine, and was further criticised for its financial dependence on Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom.
IOC president Thomas Bach said during the virtual meeting of the Extraordinary Session: "We highly value the sport of boxing. We have an extremely serious problem with the IBA because of their governance."
The IBA had called the original recommendation from the board "abhorrent and purely political."
After the vote Kremlev said "It feels unjust that our efforts were not considered properly... The IBA remains open for further dialogue with the IOC, and we will continue to fight for boxing's rightful place and status within the Olympic movement...I want to assure you that life goes on for IBA."
The IBA may appeal its case to the Court of Arbitration for sport, but reversal is thought unlikely given that the same court rejected the IBA's attempt to prevent the IOC vote.
