Not Just Sports, Boxing For The 2024 Paris Olympics Also Shows Political Duels

World amateur boxing is experiencing a severe impact due to the feud between IBA and IOC. (Sky Sports/AP Photo/Frank Franklin II/Pool)

JAKARTA The case of boxers Imane Khelive (Aljazar) and Lin Yu Ting (Taiwan) who were horrendous at the 2024 Paris Olympics, became part of a relationship between the World Amateur Boxing Association (IBA) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The transgender issue was then put forward, in order to undermine the credibility of the IOC which was considered incompetent in managing boxing.

The IOC and IBA, originally named AIBA, have had a bad relationship since the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. At that time, IBA was led by an architect who is also a Taiwanese businessman, Wu Ching Kuo. He became President of IBA since 2006, but was later removed in 2017 due to a corruption case.

Wu stepped down and IBA had a new president, a Russian named Umar Kremlev who was elected on December 12, 2020. The Kremlin has the attitude of ultra Rusia. He moved IBA's office activities in Lausanne, Switzerland to Moscow. The Kremlin made Russia's state gas company, Gazprom, the only IBA sponsor. And the crazy one, he removed Ukraine from IBA membership.

All of the Kremlin's points make the IOC under its president, Thomas Bach, embarrassed. The style of the iron hand and I like the Kremlin in managing IBA really don't make the IOC comfortable. Until finally on June 22, 2023, IBA was removed from IOC membership. It was the first time in history, an international sports federation was expelled from the IOC.

The IOC argued that the IBA did not show any significant improvement in organizational governance. Ablution, transparency, and corruption are the reasons the IOC fired IBA. The IOC decision was strengthened by the Sports Arbitration Court (CAS) on April 2, 2024, which rejected the IBA lawsuit over the dismissal of the IOC.

What the IOC did is exactly like Germany's Nazi war declaration against the Soviet Union. "This is a global disaster for boxing, and the IOC has publicly shown an attitude that goes against claims to always act in the interests of athletes," Kremlev said angrily, responding to the IOC's decision.

Incidentally, Germany's Nazi war declaration against the Soviet Union also occurred on the same date, June 22, 1941.

The Kremlin and IBA were then ignored. The group that is not in line with the Kremlin then formed a new world amateur boxing organization, namely World Boxing. The organization based in Lausanne was born just days after IBA's lawsuit was rejected by CAS.

When compared to IBA, which has 198 national federation members, World Boxing is still small because it only has 37 federation members. Most of its members are pro-west countries.

"Boxing must be saved in order to remain contested at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. There is only one reason to join World Boxing, namely to save amateur boxing," Boris van der Vorst, President of the World Boxing from the Netherlands told AP.

Currently Van der Vorst is desperately lobbying the IOC and boxing federations in its member countries to join World Boxing, so boxing can be featured at the 2024 Los Angeles Olympics.