Boxing
CAS sets date to hear IBA appeal against IOC suspension from Olympics
The decision was announced by CAS president John Coates on Tuesday, a day after the IOC refused to take any decision on boxing's inclusion at the Los Angeles Olympics.
John Coates announced on Tuesday that CAS will hear IBA's appeal against IOC's suspension.
Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will hear the International Boxing Association's (IBA) appeal against its suspension by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on November 16.
The decision was announced by CAS president John Coates on Tuesday, the final day of the 141st Congress of the IOC Executive Board in Mumbai, a day after the IOC refused to take any decision on boxing's inclusion at the Los Angeles Olympics.
The IOC withdrew its recognition of the IBA, the international governing body of boxing, under Rule 3.7 of the Olympic Charter.
The IBA has been handed suspension due to financial and administrative malpractices that first came to the fore after the 2016 Rio Olympics. It ultimately led to IOC’s executive board deciding to suspend IBA on June 22.
“We have no problem, with boxing or boxers — we have a problem with the governing body,” IOC president Thomas Bach had said last week.
IBA was first suspended in 2019, leading to an IOC Task Force organising boxing events at the Tokyo Olympics. At Paris 2024, too, the Task Force will organise boxing events.
As boxing's fate for the Los Angeles Olympics remains uncertain, IBA appealed to the CAS for a hearing. The relationship between IOC and IBA became further cold under the sport’s Russian President Umar Kremlev, a close ally of Vladimir Putin.
"In arbitration, there have been appeals filed by the International Boxing Association to withdraw recognition and that hearing will be held on the 16th of November,” Coates said during his presentation.
"The IOC has not recognised another governing body for Olympic boxing. Any decision regarding the inclusion of boxing in the LA28 sports programme is therefore put on hold,” Karl Stoss, chair of the Olympic Programme Commission, had said on Monday, the second day of the session.
Boxing has been an integral feature of the Olympic Games since 1920. It will also be part of the Olympic Programme at the Paris 2024.
From an Indian point of view, this will be a big blow to the country's quest to secure an Olympic medal.
India has secured a podium finish in three of the last four Olympics, with Vijender Singh becoming the first Indian boxer to win a medal at the 2008 Beijing Games, followed by Mary Kom (London 2012) and Lovlina Borgohain (Tokyo 2020). All three fighters won bronze.
