GENEVA ( Associated Press) – The Court of Arbitration for Sport on Friday refused to stop the International Boxing Federation’s delayed presidential election, a day after the challenger was disqualified.
According to a decision seen by The Associated Press, the court rejected Dutch Boxing Federation president Boris van der Vorst’s request for an urgent decision to block the vote.
Van der Vorst was set to take on Russia’s incumbent Omar Kremlev in an election scheduled for Friday in Istanbul. Dutch candidate fired on Thursday by an independent vetting panel after an investigation into complaints involving “prohibited cooperation” with officials standing for other IBA positions.
The Kremlev is now expected to be elected unopposed on Saturday and serve a four-year term. His main task will be to try to keep boxing alive in the Olympics.
The IBA was stripped of recognition by the International Olympic Committee ahead of last year’s Tokyo Games, and boxing was taken out of the sport’s initial schedule for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
The IOC has long criticized the boxing body for its governance, finances and the integrity of the bouts in championships, including the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
Electoral uncertainty hasn’t helped the IBA win over a skeptical IOC, which is also unhappy with proposals to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The IOC has questioned the financial stability of IBA, which currently relies entirely on the Russian state-backed energy firm Gazprom.
Kremlev was able to hold re-election despite the country’s war in Ukraine preventing Russian athletes and teams from competing internationally and hosting events at most Olympic Games.
