IBA President Umar Kremlev welcomes the announcement of the IOC President Thomas Bach to step down from his position in 2025 that was recently made at the IOC Session in Paris.

‘I am happy that Thomas Bach heard the voice of common sense and will step down,’ President Kremlev claimed. ‘Enough is enough; he had his chance to bring something good into the world of sports, but he failed. Now it’s high time a new strong leader is in a position to lead the Olympic movement. As for the IBA, we will continue to provide the best conditions for our boxers worldwide and will keep working hard to ensure that our sport is thriving. We are open to establish communication with a new IOC leader as soon as they are elected for the sake of our boxers and sport’s Olympic future.’

President Kremlev criticised Thomas Bach earlier for the scandalous Paris 2024 opening ceremony, as well as mismanagement of the Olympic movement in which the IOC does not give money back to the athletes who earn multi-billion profits for the organization. Kremlev also insists that the leadership of the IOC should be elected by the stakeholders, NOCs and IFs, not the elite group of the IOC members.

‘Honesty and transparency always win over corruption and avidity. In this crisis situation the climax of which happened in Paris, it’s high time that we cleaned the Olympic movement from the wrongdoings, as we have managed to do with IBA from the past of AIBA. I reiterate that our organization has never had any problems with the Olympic movement but with its current leadership. I am looking forward to a new future of the Olympic movement,’ President Kremlev concluded.

The IOC stressed again that boxing will be included in the LA 2028 Olympic program if they have a reliable and recognised International Federation. IBA is the only organisation capable of holding a position to support any future program. Note that World Boxing has no chance to do so, unless the IOC is willing to breach their own rules.

Amongst the key criterions to be filled are as follows, which is currently impossible for this other organisation:

• Be the only Federation governing the sport of boxing worldwide;
• Have existed in such capacity for at least a period of five years;

IBA, in turn, has everything to be recognised. The only reason why it is not happening is political or personal vindictiveness towards IBA from the IOC leadership.

Not only does the IBA provide to its National Federations a fully-packed calendar and development opportunities, but also assistance, including financial and value-in-kind, as per the Financial Support Program (FSP) regulations. IBA pays prize money to the medallists, along with the first-ever tangible reward for Paris 2024 athletes.

There is no secret that the NOCs across the globe, are being driven by the IOC, applying pressure on their respective National Federations, and threatening to cut them off financially. IBA urges the National Federations not to be afraid and to stay strong, as there are no alternatives to IBA in terms of its opportunities and investments in the sport.

IBA calls on National Federations to assess the facts closely before making any hasty decisions.

Interestingly, those National Federations who committed to World Boxing and have subsequently left the IBA, have in turn suffered badly during Paris 2024, due to the lack of bout volume and invaluable competition.

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Media contact:

Elena Sobol, Head of Communications and PR, International Boxing Association: elena.sobol@iba.sport

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