IBA — International Boxing Association

What is the IBA?

The International Boxing Association (IBA) is an international boxing federation. Its Constitution defines it as “a non-governmental not-for-profit association incorporated in Switzerland in accordance with art. 60 ff. of the Swiss Civil Code”, and sets its purpose as to “promote, support and govern the sport of boxing worldwide in accordance with the requirements and spirit of the Olympic Charter”.^[1] The Constitution records its adoption on 13 December 2020 and its amendment at a virtual Congress on 12 December 2021, and the federation’s documents page lists no later edition.^[1][14]

Until 2021 the body was known as AIBA, and it was the International Federation for Olympic boxing until the International Olympic Committee withdrew that recognition in 2023 (see below).^[2][3] The banner on its own site reads “HOME OF BOXING”.^[9] Olympic boxing is now administered by a separate federation, World Boxing, whose recognition history is set out on its own page. For the sport as a whole, including the separate professional branch, see Boxing.

What does the IBA govern or do?

The IBA publishes the documents for its own competitions and officials, and runs its own events calendar. Its documents page lists the Constitution; the Statutes adopted by the Moscow Congress in November 2018 and the Bylaws approved on 30 September 2020, both marked as in force until 13 December 2020; competition manuals dating from 2010; and editions of its anti-doping rules from 2018 to 2022.^[14]

On anti-doping, the IBA Anti-Doping Rules state that they were “adopted and implemented in accordance with IBA’s responsibilities under the Code”, meaning the revised 2021 World Anti-Doping Code; the rules became applicable on 1 January 2021, with editorial revisions in effect from 30 June 2022, and they allow doping control or education to be delegated to a third party “such as the International Testing Agency (ITA)”.^[7] WADA’s list of Code signatories carries the IBA under the heading “IFs outside the Olympic / Paralympic Movement”.^[6] See Anti-doping.

The IBA does not govern boxing at the Olympic Games. Its current calendar also reaches beyond Olympic-style boxing: its events page lists professional cards under the IBA Pro name and a bare-knuckle series alongside amateur competition,^[13] and its President’s Cup 2026 is open to “both elite amateur and professional boxers”.^[9] See Professional and amateur.

When was the IBA founded and where is it based?

The IBA’s history page gives two early dates. It records the “Official foundation of the International Amateur Boxing Federation (FIBA) and the adoption of universal boxing rules” in 1920, and, for 1946: “AIBA is established. Émile Grémaux (FRA) is elected as its first ever President”.^[2] The IBA therefore dates AIBA to 1946 and treats FIBA as a predecessor. No independent source retrieved confirms either date, and both rest on the federation’s own account.

The same page records the renaming: in December 2021 the “International Boxing Association Congress votes to change the acronym from AIBA to IBA. New logo and brand are launched”.^[2]

On the seat, the Constitution (art. 2.2) is explicit: “The Head Office of IBA is located in Lausanne, Switzerland or in such other location as may be determined by the Congress.”^[1] The federation’s 2026 Congress, including its Ordinary Election Congress on 5 December, is scheduled for Istanbul, Türkiye, from 3 to 6 December 2026.^[10]

How is the IBA recognised?

IOC. The IBA is not recognised by the International Olympic Committee. The steps, by body, instrument, date and outcome:

In June 2019 the IOC suspended its recognition of AIBA, and through a task force it took direct oversight of qualification and the boxing tournament at the Tokyo 2020 Games, as Olympedia records.^[5] On 22 June 2023 the IOC Session withdrew the IOC’s recognition of the IBA.^[3] “On 27 June 2023, the IBA filed an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)” against that decision; in a media release dated Lausanne, 2 April 2024, CAS announced that it “has dismissed the appeal filed by the International Boxing Association (IBA)”.^[3] The next day the IBA stated that CAS “did not uphold IBA’s appeal” and that its legal experts were analysing the award “to draw a conclusion whether the organization appeals to the Swiss Federal Tribunal”.^[4] On 2 July 2024 the IBA announced that it had formally filed an appeal with the Swiss Federal Tribunal against the CAS award.^[15] A commentary by the Lausanne sports-arbitration lawyer Despina Mavromati, published on 20 December 2024, records Swiss Federal Tribunal judgment 4A_264/2024 of 12 September 2024 on the IBA’s motion to set aside the CAS award (CAS 2023/A/9757) and states that the Tribunal “dismissed the grievances as being largely inadmissible criticisms of appellatory nature”.^[16] That outcome rests on this single secondary source; the judgment itself could not be retrieved. See Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Umbrella bodies. The IBA is not among the 30 full members on the membership page of ASOIF, the association of Summer Olympic federations.^[12] WADA: listed as a Code signatory outside the Olympic and Paralympic Movement.^[6]

What does the IBA organise?

World championships. The IBA’s history dates the first edition of the “AIBA Men’s World Boxing Championships” to Havana in 1974. The same page records that women’s boxing “becomes an officially recognised discipline” in 1994, and that at the Belgrade men’s championships in November 2021 “Significant prize money is awarded to winner athletes for the first time in history”.^[2]

On 1 October 2025 the IBA announced the 2025 IBA Men’s Elite World Championships for Dubai, 2 to 13 December 2025. It gave “$8 million in prize money” for the event, which, it said, “stands to be the richest in the sport’s history”, and set awards of $300,000, $150,000 and $75,000 per weight category for gold, silver and bronze.^[8] These figures are the IBA’s own announcement.

2026 calendar. The IBA President’s Cup 2026 is scheduled for Istanbul from 25 November to 5 December 2026, with 14 men’s weight categories and a “total prize money fund of USD 3 million”. The IBA describes it as “the inaugural event of IBA Elite”.^[9][10] The events page also lists IBA Pro and bare-knuckle cards for October and November 2026.^[13] For prize money across sports, see Prize money and athlete pay.

Who are its members?

The IBA’s members are National Federations. The Constitution (art. 7) provides that a boxing association “which is, or is capable of becoming, responsible for governing the sport of boxing within its country may apply to become a National Federation”, and that “There may only be one National Federation from any one country.”^[1]

National Federations sit within five continental confederations named in art. 14.1: AFBC (Africa), AMBC (Americas), ASBC (Asia), EUBC (Europe) and OCBC (Oceania).^[1] The IBA’s federations directory groups its members under those five continents. It does not state a total number of federations. It does state that “Over 9,000 boxers and 5,000 officials are members of the IBA family”.^[11] No current count of member federations could be retrieved from the IBA or from an independent source.

National Federations vote at Congress, and the 2026 Election Congress in Istanbul will elect members of the Board of Directors. On 10 September 2026 the IBA said that registrations from National Federations for the Congress were “continuing to grow daily”.^[10] Membership of the IBA and of World Boxing are separate questions, and a national body’s affiliation should be checked with each federation.