International Boxing Association

International Boxing Association

Abbreviation	IBA
Formation	29–30 November 1946
Type	Sports federation
Headquarters	Lausanne, Switzerland
Region served	Worldwide
President	Umar Kremlev[1]
Main organ	Congress
Website	IBA.sport

The International Boxing Association (IBA), previously known as the Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur (AIBA), is a sports organization that sanctions amateur and professional boxing matches, and awards world and subordinate championships. However, it is permanently banned from the Olympic Games, has no connection to the Olympics and its role as a sanctioning body is not recognized by the International Olympic Committee.^[2] It has been described as Russian-dominated^[2] and Kremlin-backed.^[3] IBA consists of five continental confederations: AFBC, AMBC, ASBC, EUBC, and OCBC. The association includes officially 198 national boxing federations,^[4] a number actually debatable since the creation of the rival organisation World Boxing. It is led by Umar Kremlev.

The IBA's status in the boxing community has declined in recent years.^[5] It governed boxing at the Summer Olympics until 2020, after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) suspended the organization in 2019 due to governance and finance issues. In the interim, an IOC-run task force has overseen the boxing competitions at the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics, with the sport's status for the 2028 Summer Olympics currently undetermined. In 2020, Umar Kremlev was elected president of the organisation, with a promise of taking on reforms and paying off the organisation's debt.

Kremlev's tenure has been controversial, with critics citing his close ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin, his involvement of state-owned oil company Gazprom as a sponsor in 2021 and 2022, and irregularities during subsequent presidential elections. These concerns intensified amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, prompting a group of national federations to establish an advisory group demanding transparency over the IBA's finances, and committing continued support for boxing as an Olympic event. This group evolved into a competing sanctioning body—World Boxing—in 2023. In June 2023, the IOC voted to formally strip the IBA of its status as its international federation for boxing, due to a lack of sufficient progress on addressing governance, finance, and corruption concerns; the IBA became the first federation to ever be expelled from the Olympic movement.

During the 1920 Summer Olympics 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.^[6] The FIBA was dissolved and the English Amateur Boxing Association in partnership with the French Boxing Federation decided to create the Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur (AIBA). The President of the French Boxing Federation, Emile Grémaux, was elected to the position of President.^[7]

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.

On November 22, 2007, as part of the AIBA reform, the name was changed to International Boxing Association with the abbreviated name remaining the same.

The organization has been involved in multiple corruption scandals including on several editions of the Summer Olympic Games.^[8][9] In December 2017, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) expressed concerns about the governance of AIBA under Wu Ching-kuo's leadership,^[10] and reaffirmed these concerns at an IOC Executive Board decision in February 2018.^[11] In 2018, the IBA issued life bans to ex-president CK Wu and former executive director Ho Kim after a report documented "gross negligence and financial mismanagement of affairs and finances". Wu had been in charge for 11 years before being provisionally suspended in October 2017. Wu was replaced as AIBA president by Gafur Rakhimov.^[12]

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 Summer Olympics through a task force chaired by Morinari Watanabe, president of the International Gymnastics Federation.^[13][14]

On December 12, 2020, Umar Kremlev was elected as president of AIBA, receiving 57.33% of the vote.^[15] The IOC had concerns, but Kremlev declared himself "the most clean candidate" and promised reforms.^[16][17] On December 13, 2020, AIBA adopted a new constitution.^[18][19][20] In 2021, Olympic champion, two-time World champion István Kovács was appointed General Secretary of AIBA.^[21] Later that year, AIBA appointed Ulrich Haas to lead the AIBA's Independent Governance Reform Group.^{[22][23][24][25]}

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.^[26] 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.^[27][28][29]

On April 7, 2021, AIBA's new management signed a cooperation agreement with Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom, through which it became the organization's "General Partner".^[30] AIBA stated they had paid off all debts, including a $10 million debt to the Azerbaijani company Benkons LLC.^[31][32][33] On May 28, 2021, AIBA signed an agreement with the international military sports council CISM.^[34][35][36] In the same year, the organization signed an agreement with the International Testing Agency (ITA).^[37]

In September 2021, AIBA released an independent report commissioned from Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren, which had found that bouts leading up to and during the 2016 Summer Olympics had been manipulated.^[38][39][40] The report found bouts had been 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.^[41][42][43]

In December 2021, AIBA's National Federations implemented a series of constitutional amendments, including adopting "IBA" as its abbreviated name.^[44]

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 had a notable impact on the perception of the IBA, and the impact of that event can be seen in both the attitudes of the IBA and towards the IBA and its competitions.^[45][46] The IBA initially followed other sports bodies in prohibiting Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing under their national flags.^[47][48][49] A consortium known as the Common Cause Alliance was formed by 18 national federations, demanding that the IBA evaluate the impact of the invasion on itself and the Russian Boxing Federation, and disclose information on its finances and the Gazprom agreement. It also pledged support for maintaining boxing on the Summer Olympic programme.^[45][46]

The IOC had been concerned about the IBA under Kremlev's leadership, citing the Gazprom sponsorship, having moved some of its operations to Russia, Kremlev having spent heavily on apparent self-promotion, and having opposed independent appointment of judges and referees.^[50][51][52] He has also been identified as a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, with Le Monde having suggested that Kremlev's leadership was "an opportunity to promote Russia's soft power" in the aftermath of the Russian doping scandal.^[53]

In May 2022, Indian boxer Lovlina Borgohain was elected as the chair and a voting member on the board of directors for IBA's Athletes' Committee.^[54] In another presidential campaign that month, Dutch Boxing Federation president Boris van der Vorst was controversially deemed ineligible one day before the vote, citing prohibited "collaborations" connected to the Common Cause Alliance.^[55] The decision was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), triggering a special congress in September 2022.^[56] The IBA subsequently voted against a new election, cementing Kremlev's position as the organization's president.^[52] During a speech to the Congress, Kremlev continued to distance the IBA from the IOC and Olympics, including stating that "Olympic boxing" should be referred to as "IBA boxing".^[56]

Amid the vote, the IBA suspended the Ukraine Boxing Federation, accusing it of alleged "government interference".^[52] At the 2022 European Junior Boxing Championships afterward, the Ukraine delegation was initially prohibited from competing under its flag due to the suspension, resulting in multiple boxers forfeiting their matches in protest. The IBA subsequently stated that the delegation would be allowed to compete under their flag.^[57][58] The IOC expressed concern over the suspension and the outcome of the vote, and stated that it would be investigated.^[59][52]

On 5 October 2022, the IBA lifted its ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes competing under their flags, stating that it "strongly believes that politics shouldn't have any influence on sports." The move faced criticism, with Finland and Sweden stating that they would boycott any IBA-sanctioned event featuring Russian or Belarusian boxers.^[47][48][49]

In November 2022, the IBA signed a cooperation agreement with the World Boxing Association, one of the four major sanctioning bodies in professional boxing.^[60]

In February 2023, USA Boxing announced its decision to boycott the 2023 World Championships, while also accusing the IBA of attempting to sabotage the IOC-approved qualification pathway for the 2024 Summer Olympics. Poland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Ireland, Czechia, Sweden and Canada joined the U.S. that month.^[61] Rival World Boxing was launched in April 2023 with its interim board including officials from member organizations of the Common Cause Alliance.^[62][63][64]

In March 2023, Ajay Singh, President of the Boxing Federation of India (BFI), was appointed vice-president of the IBA.^[65] In May 2023, Kremlev stated that the IBA's sponsorship with Gazprom had ended in December 2022. He stated that while it was influenced by "recommendations" by other sports bodies, the decision was made independently.^[66]

On 22 June 2023 during an Extraordinary IOC Session, the IOC executive board voted to withdraw its recognition of the IBA—marking the first time an international federation has been expelled from the Olympic movement. The board cited that the IBA had not shown sufficient progress on the concerns raised upon its 2019 suspension, including governance, finances, and corruption.^[67] The decision was criticised by the IBA, which stated that it was "catastrophic for global boxing and blatantly contradicts the IOC's claims of acting in the best interests of boxing and athlete", and compared it to Nazi Germany's declaration of war on the Soviet Union (whose anniversary fell on the same day). World Boxing welcomed the decision, stating that it provided greater certainty for the future of boxing at the Olympics.^[68][69] The IOC's decision was upheld by CAS in 2024.^[70]

In April 2024, the IBA announced the formation of a new professional boxing committee.^[71]

During its 2023 women's world championships, the IBA controversially disqualified Algerian boxer Imane Khelif hours before her gold medal match, and stripped Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting of her bronze medal, both reportedly for failing sex verification tests by having high levels of testosterone; the disqualification came after Khelif had defeated a Russian opponent in the semi-finals.^[72][73][74] The IBA claimed that Khelif had tested positive on unspecified DNA tests for XY chromosomes; there has been no published medical evidence that Khelif has XY chromosomes or heightened testosterone.^[75][76] These allegations resurfaced during the 2024 Summer Olympics, when Italian boxer Angela Carini retired against Khelif after taking two blows in her match. The match also resulted in Khelif receiving backlash from those who questioned her gender.^[77] In the wake of the controversy, the IOC described it as having been motivated "entirely on this arbitrary decision [by the IBA], which was taken without any proper procedure".^[78][79]

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 (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.^[80][81]

• Émile Grémaux (France), 1946–1959
• Lieutenant-Colonel Rudyard Russell (Great Britain), 1962–1978
• Colonel Don Hull (USA), 1978–1986
• Anwar Chowdhry (Pakistan), 1986–2006
• Kaner Doganeli (Turkey), 2006, act.p.
• Wu Ching-kuo (Taiwan), 2006–2017
• Gafur Rakhimov (Uzbekistan), 2017–2019
• Mohamed Moustahsane (Morocco), 2019–2020, int.p.
• Umar Nazarovich Kremlev (Russia), 2020–present

AIBA changed its rules in 2013^[82] 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. and other prominent boxers have argued for the association's reinstatement in future tournaments.^[83]

• Olympic Games (formerly)
• IBA World Boxing Championships
• Youth Olympic Games (formerly)
• Youth and Junior World Boxing Championships
• Boxing World Cup (inactive)
• World Series Boxing (inactive)

• Val Barker Trophy
• Boxing Association of Korea
• World Boxing

• Official website