The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the highest court in sports, has upheld the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) decision to remove the International Boxing Association (IBA) from the Olympic family.

IBA was de-recognised last year after years-long dispute fueled by defying advice and instructions from the IOC, which had cited concerns about boxing’s governance, reliance on money from Russian state energy firm Gazprom, and the integrity of bouts.

On Tuesday, CAS announced that it had
dismissed IBA’s appeal
. The Russian president of IBA, Umar Kremlev, had said in November that they would appeal at Switzerland’s Supreme Court if they lost their appeal at CAS.

Why did CAS dismiss IBA’s appeal?

The CAS Panel noted in their decision making that IBA had not complied with the conditions set down by the IOC for recognition, namely:

a. The IBA had not increased its financial transparency and sustainability including through diversification of revenues.

b. The IBA had not changed its process relating to referees and judges to ensure its integrity, including a monitoring period for IBA’s own competitions ahead of the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

c. The IBA had not ensured the full and effective implementation of all the measures proposed by the “Governance Reform Group” established by the IOC, including a change of culture.

Does this affect boxing at Olympics?

No. Boxing has maintained its status as an Olympic sport for the coming Paris Games, but the IOC is overseeing the qualifying and medal tournaments without any IBA involvement. IOC had done the same for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.