The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) Dismisses The Appeal Filed By The International Boxing Association (IBA) Against The Decision Of The IOC Session Withdrawing The Recognition Of The IBA As The International Federation For The Sport Of Boxing

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed the appeal filed by the International Boxing Association (IBA) against the decision taken by the IOC Session on 22 June 2023 withdrawing the IOC’s recognition of the IBA as the IF for the sport of boxing. The IOC Session took its decision based on the recommendation issued by the IOC Executive Board (IOC EB) on 7 June 2023 following a long process, initiated shortly after the Olympic Games Rio 2016, during which the IOC requested the IBA to undertake various measures to address serious concerns related to its governance and financial stability. Such process included the implementation of a roadmap, recommended by the IOC to the IBA in December 2021, in order to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the IOC EB that the IBA had successfully addressed ongoing areas of concerns ahead of the IOC Session in 2023 where the inclusion of boxing in the Olympic programme would be discussed.

On 27 June 2023, the IBA filed an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the
decision of the IOC Session and sought to have it “annulled and set aside in full”. The CAS Panel
constituted to handle this matter heard the parties and their legal representatives on 16 November 2023 at the CAS Headquarters in Lausanne/CH.

In its final award, the CAS Panel noted that, as at the date of the Appealed Decision, the 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.

As a consequence, the Panel determined that these three elements justified the IOC Session’s decision
to withdraw recognition of the IBA and emphasized that the IOC’s right to control the circumstances in and the conditions on which it confers recognition outweighed the IBA’s personality rights.

The full reasoned award has been notified to the parties and will be published by CAS unless the parties request confidentiality.

Tuesday, 02 April 2024