The IOC is on the verge of cancelling the Boxing program at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Is Boxing on the ropes when it comes to being a Summer Olympics sport? The short answer is yes. Boxing will not be part of the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles which is a bit of a head scratcher considering the names that have represented the United States over the century that boxing has been an Olympics staple including Cassius Clay, Joe Frazier and George Foreman. Boxing is scheduled to be part of the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics but the International Olympic Committee and the International Boxing Association have hit a speed bump. The IBA has taken marketing money from the Russian gas producer Gazprom and that has caused a major dispute. The IOC, which already had its problems with the IBA is not thrilled with Russian rubles going into the IBA which is run by a Russian, Umar Kremlev.
The IOC released a statement which spelled out its issue with the IBA. “The decisions and discussions to keep boxers away from the Olympic qualifiers and the Olympic Games cannot be understood differently. The extension of the sponsorship contract with Gazprom as sole main sponsor of IBA reinforces the concerns, which the IOC has expressed since 2019 over and over again. The IOC will have to take all this into consideration when it takes further decisions, which may — after these latest developments — have to include the cancellation of boxing for the Olympic Games Paris 2024.” The IBA for its part responded and claimed it was being persecuted by the IOC. “The discrimination against you and IBA’s leadership and partners based on citizenship, directly contradicts the Olympic Charter, and only highlights the issue of athletes and sport being manipulated for geopolitical purposes. For years, American television pushed boxing as one its main events in Olympics coverage. Boxing may be knocked out of the Olympics.
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