International Boxing Association (IBA) has been accused of holding judges and referees “hostage” in its row with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) over the running of events for next year’s Olympics in Paris.
A statement has been issued by the International Federation for Sports Officials (IFSO) condemning what it claimed was a “political decision” by the IBA to warn technical officials about potential sanctions if they participate at IOC-run tournaments.
The IFSO, which was founded in 2019 with the aim of enhancing officiating across all sports, claimed that the IBA, led by Russian official Umar Kremlev, had put judges and referees in a “very uncomfortable” position and, by issuing the warning, had “declared war on the IOC”.
The comments come after insidethegames obtained a letter sent by the IBA to all technical officials, referees and judges warning them not to take up the IOC’s offer to voluntarily participate in its Olympic qualifying competitions and Paris 2024 boxing event.
If they do, the IBA said it would be in breach of its technical and competition rules and be subject to possible sanctions.
A Paris 2024 Boxing Unit is set to run the Olympic qualifiers and main event at next year’s Games after the IBA was stripped of the rights by the IOC due to persistent governance concerns.
READ ALSO:EPL: West Ham interested in Reims manager Will Still
“The IBA has just declared war on the IOC by threatening the referees and judges participating in the Olympic qualifications with the most serious sanctions,” said IFSO President Patrick Vajda.
“Once again, they are attacking those who have no means of defending themselves, and who today find themselves in a very uncomfortable or even impossible position to manage.
“Taking the judges and referees hostage clearly demonstrates that the technical officials are an integral part of the competition and that they must be supported and protected as the athletes are by the highest international bodies and in this case by the IOC.”
The Women’s World Championships is currently taking place here in Indian capital New Delhi but it will not count as an Olympic qualifier.
Under the IOC’s boxing qualification model, the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games, Kraków-Małopolska 2023 European Games, Solomon Islands 2023 Pacific Games and the delayed Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games would be used as qualifiers for Paris 2024.