Eyeing new era in boxing, International Boxing Association termed as IBA instead of AIBA

Boxing has managed to earn a spot in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Unfortunately, boxing, weightlifting and modern pentathlon are the three Olympic sports whose inclusion at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics is in doubt.

Earlier, IOC President Thomas Bach has voiced concerns in connection with serious issues concerning finances, doping and authenticity in connection with refereeing and judging in the sport.

The International Boxing Association has started to walk the path the right way and has commenced the journey towards refurbishing the recertification program for its under-fire referees and judges.

"Let the new era of boxing begin. We have taken the best from our rich history to create a new International Boxing Association. Old values but new ways of working," stated the IBA President.

After being dropped from the provisional roster for the 2028 Games, the future of boxing solely depends on the implementation of the required preparedness.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has given boxing and weightlifting federations a time period of 18 months to get a grip on the matter in order to be considered for the 2028 Summer Games. This step has been taken to keep in view the issues pertaining to corruption, doping and refereeing.

IBA President Umar Kremlev speaks about sowing the seeds of stable future in Boxing:

The International Boxing Association will now be termed as IBA instead of AIBA. IBA Chief Umar Kremlev spoke about the improvements the organization is trying to implement.

"It has been exactly one year since I was elected. We have set the seed for a stable future. We are ready to reach new heights. Let the new era of boxing begin. We have taken the best from our rich history to create a new International Boxing Association. Old values but new ways of working," IBA President Umar Kremlev said in a virtual press conference with global media on Monday.

The Governance Reform Group (GRG), led by Professor Ulrich Haas, has come to the conclusion of reducing the number of AIBA Board of Directors to 18. The world body has agreed to GRG's decision.

The decision was taken during the Extraordinary Congress held on Sunday (December 12). Over 100 countries took part in the meeting.

"We have a new approach to sports integrity. We must reform our refereeing and judging system. At our the men's recent world championship in Belgrade, we started to amend our problems. We are fully committed to start a new, clean era for boxing. We have started this work to make sure that our judges and referees are fair and objective. We will be launching a recertification process for our judges and referees, and if there is evidence that they are implicated in manipulating, they will not be a part of us," added IBA Chief Umar Kremlev.