Olympic Federation of Ireland Cut Ties With IABA – But Hope Remains

The Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) are no longer a member of the Olympic Federation of Ireland (OFI).

The National Olympic Committee sent the IABA notification of their decision to cut ties on December 4th and the relationship was officially terminated on December 5th.

The OFI said they took the action with a ‘heavy heart’ considering the ‘integral importance of boxing to the Irish Olympic movement’.

However, they suggested they had no real option after, to their understanding, the IABA ‘postponed’ a move from the exiled International Boxing Association (IBA) to World Boxing – the new body which hopes to secure boxing’s place at the next Olympics. Indeed the OFI believe that World Boxing will become aligned with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) next year.

With things as they stand, Irish boxers would not be eligible to compete in LA 2028, which would be a blow to the sport in Ireland but, perhaps more importantly, funding too could be heavily impacted. Considering boxing is Ireland’s most successful Olympic sport, it would also have a negative impact on Team Ireland’s medal aspirations.

However, there remains hope.

The OFI suggest that they will allow the IABA to re-affiliate if they do join World Boxing, with the correspondence reading:

In this regard, we understand that World Boxing will become the IOC recognised International Federation for Boxing in Q2 2025, at which stage, it may be possible to restore membership.

Indeed it would not appear to be an acrimonious split, with the OFI pleading that ‘‘We genuinely hope that we can all work together with your organisation and membership in the coming period to restore boxing to its rightful place within the Irish Olympic movement.”