CHENNAI: THE International Boxing Association Women’s World Championships is here. Some of the elite amateur boxers have already descended into the national capital, New Delhi, for the marquee event. But something seems amiss.
With some countries including the USA boycotting the event and with question marks over the sport’s future, there are some genuine concerns surrounding the championship. With the sport’s world body, International Boxing Association (IBA), currently, on the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) suspension list, the event does not offer Olympic quotas too.
However, IBA president Umar Kremlev is not perturbed. He has been projecting this event as an Olympic qualifying event to build some hype around it. Even though the IBA has been trying to convince the IOC about its reform processes, yet there has not been much headway made to lift the suspension. The IBA president had earlier maintained that this will be one of the qualifying events for the Paris Olympics.
Addressing a press conference ahead of the event, which kicks off on March 16, on Tuesday, Kremlev declared that the Olympic qualification should happen through IBA. “As IBA is doing a lot for boxing, all the qualification systems and all the championships regarding the same should happen just through the IBA. We ensure that there is only one association that can develop boxing at a very high level. We prepare all the conditions for the boxers, it’s in our records,” said Kremlev, who termed India as the capital of women’s boxing.
The long-standing off-the-field issue in IBA has been going on since 2019 when it was stripped off the right to organise the sport in the Tokyo Olympics. Since Kremlev came into the picture, the IBA has made a series of governance reforms and have also brought about changes in refereeing and judging too. Despite that, they have been unable to get the approval of the IOC. The IOC officials upheld their ban against IBA late last year seeking a ‘drastic change of culture’.
The IOC had concerns over the IBA’s governance issues, lack of financial transparency and the integrity of its refereeing and judging process. The IOC will also be sending its representatives to monitor the event. ‘Neutral expert’ professor Richard McLaren, a sports lawyer, will also be in attendance to oversee transparency during the event.
Kremlev called for togetherness to propel sport. He said that the IBA and IOC should coordinate with each other to conduct qualification championships in the future. The future may seem uncertain but the 300-plus boxers, who’ll be part of the event, will be looking to make history books in the next week or so.