IBA warns Dutch federation of ‘repercussions’ if it goes ahead with ‘unsanctioned’ event

The International Boxing Association (IBA) has warned the Dutch federation about the “impact” of staging a tournament despite being suspended by the world body for “breaching the rules and regulations”.

The IBA recently suspended the national federations of Germany, New Zealand, Sweden and the Netherlands for their “participation” in a “rogue” boxing organization.

Last month, a group of national federations, including those of the United States and Great Britain, created a new organization – World Boxing – with the goal of securing the sport’s long-term future in the Olympics.

On Thursday, the IBA wrote to the Dutch FA saying it should not hold an “unauthorized international event in Eindhoven”.

The Eindhoven Box Cup is scheduled to start on Friday and end on May 30th.

“On May 22, the IBA suspended seven national federations, including the Dutch Boxing Federation, for various violations of the IBA statutes and regulations, depriving them all of all membership benefits, including hosting international competitions,” it said in a statement the IBA.

“Following this, the Dutch Boxing Federation carelessly disregarded the regulations and sent an official notice to the national federations stating that they will proceed with the event.

“The IBA is compelled to reiterate its commitment to protecting the integrity of the boxing family and its constitution. Any company that decides to break the rules will trigger an automatic mechanism to enforce the Constitution and regulations.”

The IBA said the suspended federations could be reinstated if they demonstrate they do not have “affiliated officials participating in another international boxing federation” and provide a written statement confirming that they “will participate at any other international boxing federation and undertake not to do so.” Participate in such federations in the future.” They must also “condemn any attempts to form an alternative international boxing federation” on their respective websites.

“The rules are not applied à la carte and we follow the principles of good governance, where every action has its consequences that are applied automatically. “There can be no exceptions, we have a constitution that rules out ambiguity,” said IBA Secretary General and CEO George Yerolimpos in the statement.

The future of Olympic boxing remains uncertain as the sport is not included in the original 2028 Los Angeles Games schedule.

The IBA, formerly known as AIBA, was suspended by the International Olympic Committee in 2019.

The World Boxing Federation has been stripped of its participation in the Tokyo Olympics and has lost its right to organize boxing in the Paris Olympics for the second consecutive year next year.