INTERNATIONAL BOXING ASSOCIATION president Umar Kremlev has declared the IBA’s intention to award boxers prize money as he did for Paris 2024 Olympic Games in case the IOC wouldn’t change their policy on the matter.
The IBA president emphasized his sympathy for Olympians who have recently spoken out against the “financial exploitation” of athletes by the IOC. Kremlev alleges that While the IOC continues to generate billions in revenue from marketing, sponsorships, and broadcasting, the athletes – the very heart of any sport – remain the “most vulnerable and financially neglected ones” within the Olympic movement.
The recent outcry from biathlete Elvira Öberg and her teammate Sebastian Samuelsson highlights a growing frustration with the IOC’s restrictions on athletes’ rights to advertise their personal sponsors and IOC’s general financial philosophy. Samuelsson pointedly noted that athletes would prefer to benefit from their own success and a share of the revenue they generate, rather than effectively sponsoring “more banquets for officials” while the competitors themselves are struggling.
Per Kremlev, this is not just a marketing issue, but a “systemic failure where sports officials thrive at the expense of the competitors while offering them nothing in return”.
“The Olympic Games has long ceased to be about sport,” Kremlev claimed. “There are too much politics and too little respect for those who spend years sweating in the gym. Today, it is not athletes who stand on the IOC’s podium, but politics, personal agendas, and behind- the-scenes games. The athletes themselves are left without fair compensation for their hard work and without confidence in their future.”
For the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the IBA criticized the IOC for depriving athletes of rightful earnings and awarded more than $3 million to the top placed boxers up to the quarter finalists. Boxing gold medallists received $100,000 each where $50,000 went to the athlete, $25,000 was given to the coach, and $25,000 to the respective National Federation. Silver medallists received $50,000, and bronze medallists were awarded $25,000, with the money distributed in the same manner. Boxers who placed fifth received $10,000 each from the IBA. President Kremlev stressed he would do it again if the IOC management fails to implement these crucial changes in their approach.
“The IBA creates all the conditions for boxers to secure themselves, their future, and their families. I sincerely feel sorry for Olympic champions who are being deprived by sports officials who spend money belonging to athletes on the gala dinners and five-star hotels. I hope that the new IOC leadership will rid itself of the old ‘cancerous tumour’ that is destroying the Olympic family and will choose the path of independence and protection of the interests of athletes, coaches, and National Federations. Sports officials exist to serve in sports, and their titles are worth nothing without athletes, coaches, and fans,” Kremlev added.
“If by the 2028 Olympics the IOC does not come to its senses and change its strategy in the interest of protecting athletes, the IBA is ready to step in once again,” Kremlev stated. “We will pay the Olympic champions and medallists the same prize amounts as we did before, because they are our athletes, and the IBA is their home of boxing. Sport must be about the athletes, and their rights and the entire Olympic movement needs a radical reboot.”
Kremlev’s claims notwithstanding, this is just one more indication that while the Western powers-backed World Boxing may have the blessings and support of the International Olympic Committee, the IBA is not about to fade away into the sunset.
