Boxers from Switzerland and Ireland decided to stay in the IBA under the leadership of the Kremlin

Extraordinary conferences of delegates did not vote on the decisions of their own boards

Extraordinary meetings of the boxing federations of Switzerland and Ireland decided to return to the International Boxing Association. Earlier, the boards of the federations announced an immediate exit from the IBA and joining the alternative organization World Boxing, which intends to replace the IBA, deprived of Olympic rights, headed by Umar Kremlev, in the IOC.

In 2019, the IOC withdrew recognition from the International Boxing Association (IBA), which is headed by Russian Umar Kremlev. Boxers competed at the Tokyo Olympics, but the tournament was held by a special IOC commission. At the Olympic Games in Paris, the boxing tournament will again be held without the participation of the IBA. In June this year, at an extraordinary session, the IOC accepted the recommendation of the executive committee of the organization not to return recognition to the IBA, considering that the association did not fulfill the necessary conditions for the restoration of rights.

IBA alarmed the world by allowing athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate in international tournaments without discrimination: with an anthem and a flag. In response, some boxing associations boycotted the World Championships. The creation of World Boxing, an alternative to the International Boxing Association, was also announced. The boxing federations of Australia, England, Great Britain, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the USA became its first members.

World Boxing recently announced the expansion of the organization to 12 federations. The official website of World Boxing has recorded that the national boxing federations of Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Honduras and Sweden have completed the entry process. Their applications have been approved by the World Boxing Executive Board and will be ratified at the organization’s first congress in November 2023. All named federations left the IBA.

And three days ago, the Swiss Boxing Federation, also intending to join the WB, turned back towards the IBA. An extraordinary meeting of members of the Swiss Boxing Federation revealed disagreements in the organization itself. The delegates did not support an immediate withdrawal from the IBA, although the organization’s board passed it unanimously. As early as June 1, the press service of the Swiss Boxing Federation announced that a decision had been made to leave the International Boxing Association and join World Boxing.

The new solution is this: the choice fell on the IBA. The head of the Swiss Boxing Federation, Andreas Anderegg, who has been president of the organization for the past 17 years, has announced his resignation. (Former amateur boxer Amir Orfia has been elected as the new president.) “At an extraordinary meeting of the Swiss Boxing Federation delegates, the delegates did not support the unanimous decision of the board to immediately leave the IBA. Instead, the decision was made to re-join the organization,” SwissBoxing said in a statement.

Literally the next day, the Irish Boxing Federation voted against leaving the IBA. At an extraordinary meeting of delegates on August 26, the Irish also called for remaining in the International Boxing Association.

The International Boxing Association on its official website welcomed the decisions taken by the Irish Boxing Association (IABA) and SwissBoxing, which “prevented these organizations from applying for recognition of other boxing organizations.” And she recalled that the constitution of the organization does not allow dual membership for national federations.

Chris Roberts, interim IBA general secretary and chief executive, comments: “When decision makers do not act according to the rules that exist for members of the organization, they endanger their own democracy.” One of the leaders of the IBA believes that the voting of the extraordinary meetings showed that the members of the national federations sometimes hold opinions different from their respective Councils.

The IBA believes that different opinions are extremely important, because they give a chance to move forward in a constructive dialogue, but its openness is always important. “Be careful what you wish for, they might just come back and bite you,” summed up Chris Roberts, formerly the IBA’s director of development.