IBA appeals to Swiss Federal Tribunal over IOC’s threat to the future of boxing
July 2nd, 2024 / IBA
The International Boxing Association continues to fight for the future of boxing, formally filing an appeal with the Swiss Federal Tribunal over the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) award to confirm International Olympic Committee’s decision to withdraw recognition of IBA as the rightful governing body for boxing in July 2023.
IBA rejects the IOC’s position and seeks more clarification from their rejected appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which now means the Swiss Federal Tribunal will investigate whether the CAS decision was unlawful.
The Swiss Federal Tribunal’s acceptance of our appeal is incredibly positive for the boxing world, as few cases are accepted by the court at this level, showing the complexity of the issue.
IBA appealed to CAS over the decision made by the IOC in 2023, but this appeal was turned down on 2 April 2024.
We are adamant CAS has not applied the law correctly and therefore, cannot justifiably reject our appeal against the IOC’s decision, making the rejection made by CAS unlawful.
Our organization has progressed greatly in recent years to improve transparency and governance standards in our sport, bringing independent experts in to consult on how best to achieve targets set by the IOC. We view the CAS decision as failing to properly consider these steps taken.
“We felt that CAS violated our right to be heard, we felt that they didn’t properly analyze all the issues and the arguments that we put forward, so we appealed to the court,” said IBA General Secretary and CEO, Chris Roberts OBE.
IBA has continued to support athletes, coaches, officials, and National Federations during this period of uncertainty through competition, funding and developmental events. Even with the future of the sport unknown, we have never stopped supporting our community.
While IBA has continually strove for unity in our sport, the IOC has sought division and disruption. We will keep supporting thousands upon thousands in our community and we will not stand idly and watch boxing be subjected to such maltreatment.
IBA is confident justice will be shown in the Swiss Federal Tribunal appeal and eagerly awaits the conclusion of this investigation.
