IBA chief demands apology from IOC for unfairly treating boxers

The International Boxing Association has demanded the Olympic governing body to apologize to athletes unfairly affected by its decision allowing controversial pugilist Imane Khelif to box at Paris 2024.

Among those deserving an apology from the International Olympic Committee, according to IBA, is Chinese boxer Yang Liu, who was overpowered by Khelif in a lop-sided Olympic final on Aug 9 to lose the women's 66kg gold medal to the Algerian at the Paris Games.

Yang Liu (in blue) of China competes against Imane Khelif of Algeria during the women's boxing 66kg final at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, Aug. 9, 2024. (Xinhua/Jiang Wenyao)

IBA President Umar Kremlev, speaking at a news conference in Istanbul on Wednesday, reiterated his stance against the IOC's permission on Khelif's Olympic eligibility, hitting out at former Olympic chief Thomas Bach for ignoring the IBA's pre-Games warning of Khelif's abnormal gender test results.

"We informed the IOC and provided them the documents (of the test results), but they broke those rules," Kremlev, a Russian sports administrator, said through an interpreter at the conference, which was held to launch the IBA Golden Era development projects.

"In my opinion, not giving back the medal, but to protect our female sport, we require them to apologize to female boxers publicly.

"Thomas Bach and his team have to apologize to female boxers and then take their responsibility.

"Leave the medals to the true sportswomen that deserved it," said Kremlev, who had urged the IOC to strip Khelif's medal and return it to the "real owner" in an earlier interview.

Kremlev made the remarks amid renewed debates over gender regulations in elite sport, and ongoing disagreement between the IBA and IOC in defining athletes' eligibility to compete in women's divisions.

At the center of the controversy are Khelif and another boxer Lin Yu-ting of Chinese Taipei, who were both disqualified from IBA-sanctioned events after two rounds of gender testing reportedly found them possessing XY chromosomes.

They were allowed to compete in Paris, though, by the IOC, which prioritizes legal documentation, such as passport sex designation, over biological findings with its own gender identification rules.

Lin also won gold in Paris, defeating Poland's Julia Szeremeta to bag the women's 57kg title one day after Khelif's win.

Two rounds of blood analysis of the two boxers, first carried out during the 2022 IBA Women's World Championships in Istanbul, followed by a second taken before the 2023 worlds in New Delhi, returned with identical results that did not match the eligibility criteria for IBA women's events, according to the association.

Trying to re-establish its prestige as the rightful international body of boxing, the IBA launched a series of development programs, including an esports initiative, a brand-new bare-knuckle league and the IBA Gym project, at the Istanbul event, aiming to enhance the sport's appeal at both the amateur and professional levels.

Its new professional boxing format, the IBA.Pro, separated from its continental and world championships system, made a strong impression on Wednesday with seven bouts, including two bare-knuckle fights, leaving the crowd in odds and adds for an adrenaline-rushing boxing show at the Rixos Tersane Istanbul.

In the main event on the card, British underdog James Dickens delivered a huge upset on the IBA.Pro Champions Night after he knocked out defending WBA interim and IBA Pro super-featherweight world title holder Albert Batyrgaziev of Russia in the fourth round.

Former unified world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury of Britain, American boxing legend Roy Jones Jr, his compatriot and multiple world title holder Terence Crawford, and supermodel Naomi Campbell, were among guests and celebrities attending the IBA event in Istanbul.