IOC president Thomas Bach has delivered one last jibe against the IBA before stepping down from his post next week.
The two organisations have been at loggerheads for the best part of five years, with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) finally stripping the International Boxing Association (IBA) of its Olympic recognition in 2023.
Before losing its position over governance issues and a lack of financial transparency, the body banned Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting from competing at its Women’s World Boxing Championships.
This was because both fighters had allegedly failed gender eligibility tests, with the IBA ultimately determining that they have XY chromosomes.
The IOC, however, allowed the pair to fight as female athletes at last year’s Paris Olympics, where the two decorated amateurs claimed gold in their respective divisions.
Since then, breakaway group World Boxing has secured provisional recognition from the IOC, allowing it to organise Olympic boxing ahead of, and possibly even beyond, the Los Angeles Games in 2028.
But while president Bach has firmly expressed his support for the newly-formed international federation, the IOC’s stance on boxing could look vastly different in the coming weeks.
As it happens, Bach’s successor will be elected next Thursday, and with candidate Sebastian Coe, for instance, having previously voiced his support for the IBA, World Boxing’s position seemingly remains far from guaranteed.
Not only that, but Coe was highly critical of how the IOC handled the gender row involving Khelif and Yu-Ting, accusing the body of having no clear position on the situation.
Nevertheless, after serving a 12-year stint, Bach has maintained his view of the IBA just days before his presidential term comes to an end.
“I would not consider this [Paris Games gender row] a real crisis because all this discussion is based on a fake news campaign coming from Russia,” Bach told Reuters.
“This was part of the many, many fake news campaigns we had to face from Russia before Paris and after Paris.
“These two female focuses [Khelif and Yu-Ting] were born as women, they were raised as women, they have been competing as women, they have been winning and losing as every other person.”
