International Boxing Association follows World Athletics to reward Paris Olympics 2024 medallists with prize money

Despite not organizing the event, the International Boxing Association (IBA) is keen to follow the example set by the World Athletics and reward the medal winners in the Paris Olympics 2024 with prize money.

Importantly, due to finance, governance, ethics, refereeing, and judging concerns by the International Boxing Association, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will be running the sport at the upcoming quadrennial event in Paris, as it was at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

It's important to note that in 2023, the IOC stripped off IBA's status as the world governing body for the sport after it failed to meet the set reforms following its suspension in 2019 over alleged corruption concerns.

Notably, a total budget of USD 3.1 Million has been set aside to reward the gold, silver, and bronze medallists at the Paris Olympics, according to the International Boxing Association (IBA).

Interestingly, World Athletics earlier announced that they would be rewarding only gold medallists (USD 50,000) and not the silver and bronze medallists. However, IBA, backed by Russian gas giant Gazprom, is one step ahead of the track and field’s governing body.

“Our athletes and their efforts must be appreciated” - IBA president ahead of Paris Olympics 2024

The IBA has announced that it will award Olympic champions USD 100,000 in prize money, USD 50,000 for silver medallists, and USD 25,000 for bronze medallists. The IOC has taken note of the same.

"Our athletes and their efforts must be appreciated. The IBA offers opportunities and invests considerably in our boxers, they remain as the focal point, and we will continue to support them at all levels," said IBA president Umar Kremlev.

However, the IOC is still unclear on how the IBA would manage to reward the boxers in the Paris Olympics.

"As always with the IBA, it is unclear where the money is coming from. This total lack of financial transparency was exactly one of the reasons why the IOC withdrew its recognition of the IBA," the IOC stated.

As the Summer Games is an amateur sports event, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) doesn’t reward athletes with prize money but distributes funding through the International Federations (IFs) and National Olympic Committees (NOCs).