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Another Trump card?

Boxing is pinning its hopes on US President Donald Trump. PHOTO/REUTERS 

What you need to know:

With many national federations stuck at crossroads, the IBA, which wants to re-establish its own governing status, thinks that the US President has a huge influence in how the Los Angeles Games will be handled.

The International Boxing Association (IBA) has asked US president Donald Trump to "look into" the sport's omission from the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Boxing enthusiasts will be keen to hear the response from the maverick politician with extraordinary promises.

Since the International Olympic Committee (IOC) expelled IBA from the Olympic Movement in June 2023, the future of boxing at the Olympics became uncertain.

After managing the boxing tournaments at the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympics, IOC declared that it needs a legitimate international body to take over the role or boxing won’t happen at future Games.

The IOC further arm-twisted national boxing federations to abandon IBA—the sport’s international governing body since 1946—and join World Boxing, a breakaway faction that only has 60 members compared to IBA’s 199.

The deadline for this forced transition is as early as possible in 2025, or boxing will remain omitted from the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

In November, IBA responded by allowing federations to join World Boxing without losing IBA membership. But the IOC didn’t change its stance.

With many national federations stuck at crossroads, the IBA, which wants to re-establish its own governing status, thinks that the US President has a huge influence in how the Los Angeles Games will be handled.

The IOC has since 2016 questioned IBA over finances, governance, ethics, refereeing and judging. Significant changes including change of IBA leadership didn’t help matters. IBA president Umar Kremlev, a Russian with strong ties with the Kremlin, has accused the IOC of playing West-Russia politics, which was fueled by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Now IBA wants to count on Trump, who has always confessed a good relationship with Russian president Vladmir Putin to save the future of Olympic boxing.

Uganda Boxing Federation (UBF) president Moses Muhangi (C) and his boxers remain in limbo. PHOTO/JOHN BATANUDDE 

Even before being re-elected president, Trump sided with IBA against the IOC for allowing boxers Imane Khelif of Algeria and Li Yu-ting of Taiwan to compete against women at the Paris 2024 Olympics. IBA had banned both from the 2023 World Boxing Championships.

“They were men. They transitioned to women, and they were in the boxing,” Trump said during his campaigns, despite both boxers identifying as women.

The gender debate in sports and boxing is ongoing. But the bigger question remains the future of Olympic boxing, especially that US Boxing is the biggest anti-IBA federations.

Past political bouts

The Olympics are not new to political games. Over 24 countries, mostly from Africa, boycotted the Montreal 1976 Olympics because the IOC had admitted the entry of New Zealand whose rugby team had flaunted strong ties with apartheid South Africa.

Four years later, Jimmy Carter’s USA and some allies boycotted the Moscow 1980 Olympics in protest to the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979 during the Cold War.

The Soviet Union and 14 Eastern Bloc countries, including East Germany, retaliated by shunning the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. As the Games prepare to return to the City of Angels in 44 years, another political bout is on the cards. 

IOC vs IBA TIMELINE

2016: IOC forces IBA to suspend Rio 2016 ring officials

2019: IOC suspends IBA over finances and ethics

June 2022: IOC announces IBA won’t manage the Paris 2024 boxing pathway

April 2023: USA and co. create World Boxing

June 2023: IOC expels IBA from Olympic Movement

December 2023: IBA bans dual membership of federations

April 2024: CAS dismisses IBA appeal against IOC dismissal

May 2024: IOC meets World Boxing

September 2024: Swiss federal court rejects IBA’s appeal vs CAS

December 2024: IBA amends constitution to allow dual membership