In April 2024, court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) dismissed International Boxing Federation (IBA)’s appeal seeking to overturn a decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to strip it of its recognition.
The ruling marked the end of the road for IOC and IBA. That very same month, the newly formed World Boxing (WB) was publicly announced. This new entity was to take over from IBA as the custodian of Olympic style boxing.
This new shift left many African in a tricky situation. At the time, it seemed they had to make a decision whether to stay with IBA or jump ship to the newly formed WB. This left many national boxing federations, more especially those in Africa, caught between a rock and a hard place.
Not joining WB would mean exclusion from participating in the future Olympic games, the games which, for many amateur boxers, are the pinnacle of achievement. For some like Botswana Boxing Association (BoBA), this would mean loss of sports grants from the government and support from organisations such as IOC.
Ditching IBA, on the other hand, would mean they lose whatever benefits they get. These would include missing out on IBA organised competitions, which still dominate the continent. It would also mean missing out on IBA projects meant to develop the sport of boxing.
Only Nigeria, among the African countries, was brave enough to jump ship and join WB. Botswana, on the other hand, decided to bide its time. They adopted a wait and see strategy, choosing to ‘monitor the events as they unfold.’
Speaking to this publication at the time, the then BoBA Secretary General Taolo Tlouestile had this to say: ‘We still do not know what the new body is coming with and even though IBA has been stripped of recognition it still has control over boxing training courses and many related boxing activities. What if we rush to the new body and find out that those things are limited and not being offered as IBA did.’
Fast forward a year later, sixteen African countries have now joined WB. The latest to join, albeit pending ratification, were the Libyan Boxing Federation (Libya) and the Boxing Federation of Kenya. As per the WB constitution, the two will have to wait until the WB congress in November 2025 to be granted full membership, as only the congress can approve it.
Now, Botswana is about to enter the ring as well. According to BoBA Publicity Secretary Kabelo Seleka, the association ‘is on the verge of joining World Boxing Organisation.’
He says ‘BoBA’s initial application for World Boxing membership was made by its immediate past Executive Committee.’ The membership application, which included submission of required documents has been accepted.
‘BoBA has met set requirements but with pending additional information submission. Most the requirements are centred around governance, membership, reporting, impact, compliance background,’ Seleka explains.
Of note, BoBA will join World Boxing without sacrificing its membership to IBA. The latter is said to have ‘long granted BoBA permission to go ahead with dual membership application by the International Boxing Association (IBA).’
Seleka says ‘the decision to join World Boxing has been reached with major focus on athletes’ interest, more especially participation in major recognised games such as the upcoming Olympics.’
Meanwhile, the BoBA Publicity Secretary says they expect more countries from the region to also join World Boxing as well. He says ‘most Southern Africa countries are in process of joining the World Boxing and or some might be awaiting to follow first movers in the region, who include BOBA.’
The new developments mean BoBA’s earlier decision to adopt ‘a wait and see strategy’ and to ‘monitor the events as they unfold’ has paid dividends. The association can now enjoy the benefits accrued from the two amateur boxing bodies without sacrificing one for another.