World Boxing: Great Britain joins breakaway international governing body

Boxing has been left off the initial programme for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles

Great Britain has joined a breakaway international boxing federation in a bid to help counter a threat to the sport's Olympic future.

World Boxing has been established in response to the "persistent issues" surrounding the Olympic sport's existing governing body, the International Boxing Association (IBA).

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) banned the IBA in 2019 over governance issues and alleged corruption.

World Boxing will seek IOC recognition.

However, it said it has yet to make contact with the IOC, and provisional recognition could take up to two years, making it a "stretch" to be recognised in time for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

In response, the IBA said it "strongly condemns" the establishment of a "rogue" organisation, adding it has "initiated a series of actions to protect its autonomy as the official worldwide governing body".

The move to establish World Boxing has been made with the sport's place at the 2028 Olympics under threat.

Among five pledges, the new organisation says it will "keep boxing at the heart of the Olympic movement" and "ensure the interests of boxers are put first".

It will be led by an interim board made up of representatives from Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, Sweden and the United States.

Wales' Olympic middleweight champion Lauren Price is one of two athletes' representatives.

Matthew Holt, chief executive of GB Boxing, said: "It is vital that boxing continues to remain at the heart of the Olympic movement and to achieve this we need to re-establish a relationship of trust between those that the govern the sport and all of its stakeholders.

"World Boxing aims to deliver this by creating a financially transparent organisation with strong governance structures that delivers sporting integrity and fair competition and acts in the interest of boxers and the sport."

The Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) on Thursday noted the establishment of World Boxing and added that while it "shares the principles" of the new body, a vote will be taken by its members to decide if it will join.

IABA president Gerry O'Mahony said: "The Irish Athletic Boxing Association remains committed to its view that all members deserve a level playing field in tournaments run to the highest possible standard by an organisation which has their welfare, their futures, and their sport at its heart."

In a statement, the IBA said it saw "no other reason" for the establishment of World Boxing other than an "attempt to destroy the integrity" of the existing body.

It added: "The IBA strongly condemns the efforts of individuals to damage the significant strides taken by the IBA over last years to secure boxers' the best future possible."

What is the background?

Boxing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics was organised by the IOC amid concerns over the IBA's finance, governance, ethics, refereeing and judging, and will be again for Paris 2024.

The sport has been left off the initial programme for Los Angeles 2028 as the IBA - formerly known as the AIBA - has refused to implement changes the IOC wants.

The programme for Los Angeles 2028 will be finalised by the IOC in October.

In 2022, an independent investigation said boxing needed to take action on ethical issues to secure its Olympic future, having found a "historical culture of bout manipulation" - including at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

In his final report, Professor Richard McLaren detailed decades of financial mismanagement and deception, rule breaking in the ring, and inadequate training and education programmes for referees, judges and officials.

In October, the IBA - which counts Russian state-backed energy giant Gazprom among its chief sponsors - lifted its ban on Russians and Belarusian boxers.

Multiple nations, including Great Britain, boycotted the Women's World Championships in March after the IBA allowed Russian and Belarusian boxers to compete under their countries' flags, contravening IOC guidance. Britain will also boycott the men's World Championships, which runs from 30 April-14 May, for the same reason.

Russian Umar Kremlev, the IBA's president, said those boycotting were "worse than hyenas and jackals" because of their violation of the "integrity of sport and culture".

The IBA wants the IOC to cancel the European Games' status as a qualification event for Paris 2024 because boxers from the two nations have been banned from competing.

Kremlev has been IBA president since 2020 and was re-elected unopposed in May 2022 after Dutch boxing federation president Boris van der Vorst was declared ineligible.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled in June that Van der Vorst was wrongly prevented from standing but a proposal to stage a new election was rejected by IBA delegates.

The IOC said it was "extremely concerned" by the result, while Van der Vorst told BBC Sport he feared for the sport's Olympic future.

'Something has to be done'

World Boxing says it plans to work "constructively and collaboratively" to develop a pathway to preserve boxing's place at the Olympics.

It said "many" national bodies have "already indicated their interest" in joining the federation, with the membership process set to start in May.

Simon Toulson, previously of the International Canoe Federation and International Weightlifting Federation, will oversee the organisation as interim secretary general.

A president and an executive board will be elected at World Boxing's inaugural congress in November.

The two athletes' representatives, Price and American super-heavyweight silver medallist Richard Torrez Jr, will be supplemented by a six-person athletes' committee.

"Going to the Olympics is life changing and I cannot imagine a Games without boxing," said Price.

"It provides a massive platform for the sport and for the boxers. Without it, the boxers will suffer and the sport will be damaged so something has to be done to make sure boxing continues to be part of the Olympic Games."

In a statement, IBA secretary general and chief executive George Yerolimpos said there is "no doubt" the IBA will "reserve its rights to claim damages from any person who is harming the IBA's activities and reputation, and/or trying to achieve exclusion of the IBA from the Olympic family".

Speaking at a news conference, Toulson said World Boxing was "not concerned" about any legal challenge from the IBA, adding it was "not in a fight".

He added there was "no legal reason" why national federations couldn't be members of both World Boxing and the IBA.

The IOC told BBC Sport it "takes note of today's developments".

• It's sink or swim for rookie police officers in Belfast: Watch Blue Lights, a nail-biting new drama, on BBC iPlayer

• Four movies that predicted the future incorrectly: Are practical hoverboards and flying cars just a distant dream?