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IBA accuses IOC of shortchanging athletes
IBA find IOC to be archaic. PHOTO/COURTESY
What you need to know:
In an open letter to the IOC members, the IBA president Umar Kremlev and secretary general and CEO Chris Roberts jointly claimed that while the IOC leadership reside in luxury hotels, “Olympic athletes live in substandard conditions, paying for their flights and hotels, and funding their own preparations, often staying hungry at competitions,” yet it is athletes’ sacrifice and commitment that brings substantial income to the IOC.
The International Boxing Association (IBA) has called for the immediate resignation of Thomas Bach for presiding over the International Olympic Committee (IOC), whose officials live luxurious lives at the expense of athletes, coaches and national federations.
In an open letter to the IOC members, the IBA president Umar Kremlev and secretary general and CEO Chris Roberts jointly claimed that while the IOC leadership reside in luxury hotels, “Olympic athletes live in substandard conditions, paying for their flights and hotels, and funding their own preparations, often staying hungry at competitions,” yet it is athletes’ sacrifice and commitment that brings substantial income to the IOC.
“Olympic medalists do not receive prize money, even though the IOC profits significantly from TV rights, sponsors, and ticket sales. It is obvious that this enormous profit is only possible because of the athletes, their coaches, and sports federations,” the July 24 letter further asserts, demanding an immediate change.
“Athletes deserve prize money, and their coaches and National Federations should also be rewarded.”
In late May, IBA announced that it would offer prize money to boxing medalists at the Paris 2024 Olympics. But the IOC quickly retaliated by rejecting the offer, and reminding the IBA that: "As always with the IBA, it is unclear where the money is coming from. This total lack of financial transparency was exactly one of the reasons why the IOC withdrew its recognition of the IBA," a May 29 statement said.
The IOC expelled the IBA from the Olympic Movement on June 22, 2023. But the IBA has reiterated that the IOC’s biased attitude towards the IBA is purely personal, driven by Bach’s unjustifiable vengeance.
The letter accused IOC of double standards for failure to distance itself from former AIBA president CK Wu, a former IOC board member, whose corruption and mismanagement, according to Prof. McLaren’s reports, led the boxing organization to collapse. Ironically, Kremlev wonders why the IOC instead continues to undermine his efforts despite saving the IBA from bankruptcy and developing boxing.
However, IBA was the second sport governing body to announce prize money for Paris medalists after World Athletics offered $50,000 to gold medalists in Paris. The IOC rejected that offer as well, urging international federations to treat all member federations and athletes equally and “try to close the gap between the privileged and the less privileged or underprivileged.”
But IBA insisted that it will pay Paris athletes prize money. And around the same time IBA and the IOC exchanged jabs and hooks over prize money, Toyota announced that it would not renew its sponsorship for the IOC beyond the Paris 2024 Games. The current deal worth US$637m runs from 2015 and has covered two winter and two summer Olympic editions.
The decision could be due to a disagreement with the IOC's policy on Olympic athletes and the use of the funds. But neither the world’s second biggest car manufacturer nor the IOC confirmed it.
Meanwhile, the Friendship Games—seen as a potential substitute for the Olympic Games—offer a prize money fund of USD100m, besides paying for flights and accommodation, making a significant difference for the athletes compared to those of the Olympic Games.
IBA-IOC FEUD
2019: IOC suspends IBA over financial intransparency
April 2023: World Boxing (an IBA rival) is formed
June 2023: IOC expels IBA
April 2024: CAS dismisses IBA appeal vs IOC
