Boxing’s already uncertain Olympic future was thrown into further jeopardy after the sport’s Asian governing body voted against leaving the suspended International Boxing Association (IBA) to join the rival association. The polling was held via a secret ballot on Saturday with 21 countries voted to continue with IBA, while 14 cast their ballot in favour of joining World Boxing (WB), a breakaway body which is aiming for recognition of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). There was one invalid vote.
Besides India, which participated as an observer, the other countries whose names figured on the roll call included, Bahrain, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Chinese Taipei, Timor Leste, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, and Lebanon.
Other members present were Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Yemen.
The IOC has time and again reiterated its threat to leave boxing out of the 2028 Olympics if national federations continue to align themselves with the suspended IBA.
World Boxing has 42 members currently while suspended IBA has more than 100 affiliated units.
With the Asian Boxing Confederation (ASBC) refusing to join the IOC ‘promoted’ WB, the Olympic future of the sport hangs in a balance.
However, Boxing Federation of India (BFI) president Ajay Singh, who was present at ASBC’s extraordinary congress, is confident WB will get to the 50-member mark it requires to receive the provisional recognition by the end of the year.
“India is taking all possible steps to ensure that boxing remains a part of the Olympic movement. It is clear that the International Olympic Committee will not accept IBA as the international parent body for boxing,” Singh told PTI on Sunday.
“India has chosen to support World Boxing as the only viable alternative. Yesterday’s vote showed that 14 countries that are part of the ASBC are keen to join World Boxing.
“We are confident that World Boxing will soon have the requisite strength to apply and be accepted by IOC as the governing body for boxing,” he added.
It is also learnt that a few of the 14 Asian countries that voted in favour of joining WB will be putting in their application to join the breakaway body soon.
Following the voting, IBA hit out at WB, saying it lacked the wherewithal to organise major international events.
“World Boxing, to tell the truth, has no finances, expertise and support to organise any proper major events, no means to support their members and no intention to develop boxing,” said IBA in a statement.
“They claim that they want to keep boxing at the heart of the Olympics, fair enough; that said, they do not care about the development of the sport in the countries, grassroots boxing, performance path of the athletes. They have no program, no vision — just a standalone idea of boxing being at the Olympics,” the statement added.
IBA also asked the national federations to think twice before leaving as that could mean a dead end for them.
“The IBA calls (upon) National Federations to make decisions carefully, as there will be no way for a U-turn, should a federation decide to leave. The IBA remains committed to supporting its athletes, coaches and National Federations.
“World Boxing can guarantee nothing; the IBA in turn can show actions supporting every word said. We work hard in support of grassroots boxing, while giving elite boxers opportunities to excel as amateurs and professionals both.” Welcoming the support from the Asian body, IBA added that it was an affirmation of the good work done by it over the years.
“This decision (by ASBC) reflects the years of IBA’s hard work invested in boxing development worldwide and true unity of the IBA Boxing Family,” the statement added.
IBA also hit out at some of the national federations that had voted against it during the secret ballot.
“Politically motivated intentions to join World Boxing backed by some members are reckless. There is no rationale in joining an organization that has no intention for boxing to thrive but only pursues personal ambitions of their leadership.”
Where does India stand vis-a-vis World Boxing?
BFI had in May agreed to become a member of World Boxing. The membership application was approved by the BFI’s General Assembly.
Senior BFI office-bearers had also met with World Boxing president and secretary-general to discuss ways in which India could support the international federation in growing its membership base in Asia.
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