IMAGE: International Boxing Association(IBA) president Umar Kremlev. The IBA said it was concerned about confidential data relating to its competition officials, adding that the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit had contacted it about acting as volunteer officials at qualification competitions and the Games. Photograph: Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters
The International Boxing Association (IBA) on Monday upped the ante in its battle for control of Olympic boxing by accusing the International Olympic Committee (IOC) of misuse of information about its officials.
In an open letter to IOC chief Thomas Bach and executive board members before their meeting in Lausanne on Tuesday, the IBA said it had “deep concerns” regarding basic IOC governance, impartiality and transparency principles during the monitoring process ahead of next year’s Paris Olympics.
There was no immediate response to a Reuters request for comment from the IOC.
The IOC suspended the IBA in 2019 over governance, finance, refereeing and ethical issues and did not involve it in running the boxing events at the Tokyo Olympics. The IOC also plans to stage its own boxing qualifier for Paris.
The IBA said it was concerned about confidential data relating to its competition officials, adding that the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit had contacted it about acting as volunteer officials at qualification competitions and the Games.
“This was done without prior approval or communication to IBA with whom the competition officials are certified and showed a lack of basic communication that demonstrates once again the lack of transparency and cooperation with the IBA from the respective IOC staff,” the IBA said in its letter.
It added the IOC’s actions were in breach of a data transfer agreement signed in 2019.
“The IBA therefore will reserve all rights to seek redress before the competent court against IOC to request damages for breach of the agreement, illegitimate use of our intellectual property and breach of the General Data Protection Regulation amongst other breaches in which the IOC has committed,” it said.
Relations between the IOC and the IBA further soured following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.
Amateur boxing’s governing body defied IOC guidance and lifted a ban on Russian and Belarusian boxers competing under their flags last October.
Boxing is not on the initial programme for the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
Poland, Britain against allowing Russian, Belarusian athletes at Paris Games
Russian and Belarusian athletes should be banned from the 2024 Olympics in Paris unless Moscow pulls its forces out of Ukraine, according to Poland, Britain and the Baltic states, despite the IOC saying it plans to let them compete as neutrals.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) sanctioned Russia and Belarus after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 but is now reluctant to exclude their athletes from the Olympics entirely for fear of a return to the boycotts of the Cold War era.
It set out a pathway in January for competitors from Russia and Belarus to earn Olympic slots through Asian qualifying and to compete as neutral athletes in Paris next year.
“We strongly believe that now is not the time to consider the opening up of a pathway for Russian and Belarusian athletes to return to the Olympic Games in any status,” the Polish foreign ministry said in a statement issued jointly with Britain, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
Neutral athletes are not considered to be representing their nations and their successes are not accompanied by the flying of flags or playing of national anthems.
The President of the IOC Thomas Bach has said that the body cannot be a referee in global political disputes. However, the plan has faced opposition, with Germany and others coming out in favour of maintaining the ban.
“While the IOC has made no final decisions yet, we strongly urge it to reconsider its plans and return to the original well-proven stance supported by the international community,” the Polish statement said.
“We remind that Russia and Belarus have at their disposal a way forward for their athletes to return to the international sports community, namely ending the war of aggression launched by Russia with complicity of Belarus and restoring respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within the internationally recognised borders.”
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