BFK official explains how boxers will be affected if the sport is kicked out of Olympics

BOXING BFK official explains how boxers will be affected if the sport is kicked out of Olympics

Abigael Wafula 15:28 - 05.07.2023

He revealed that boxing is one of the oldest sports and its removal from the Olympics will be a massive loss.

Boxing Federation of Kenya Communications Director Duncan Kuria has insisted that if the sport is removed from the Olympics, it will adversely affect the boxers.

Kuria noted that almost every boxer wants to participate in the Olympic Games and the removal of the sport would have killed a lot of dreams of young boxers. 

Recently, the IOC banished the International Boxing Association (IBA) from its ranks due to its failure to complete reforms on governance, finance, and ethical issues.

“The consequences of boxing being out of the Olympics will be very heavy on the boxers because every boxer's dream is to participate in the Olympic Games," Kuria said during an interview on KBC.

"Boxing is one of the oldest sports in the Olympics…it will be a massive loss if boxing is kicked out of the Olympics and that is the threat we are facing at the moment.

"I believe that IOC has taken the first decision to kick out IBA from the Olympic family but I think boxing will still remain to be there."

The IOC noted that boxing will be included in the 2024 Paris Olympics and the 2028 edition of the event in Los Angeles but it was not clear whether the event will be covered in the next Olympics after the two editions.

Kuria added that the decision by IOC is very heavy and also banning IBA is not a joke. He revealed that, however, it was something they saw coming since the IOC had warned IBA to put their house in order but they did not respond in good time.

He added that there were various underlying issues considering there were some feuds between the IBA and IOC.

“It became a bit nasty because there are issues between the two. I think we were at the World Championships and I saw IBA had addressed a letter to the referees and judges about them being approached by IOC," he added.

"According to IBA, they wanted the IOC to go through them…it was a bit chaotic and I hope that the sport doesn’t suffer.”