MR Mustapha Nettey, Treasurer of the Ghana Boxing Federation (GBF), says the national body has no choice but to quit the International Boxing Association (IBA) as directed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The IBA was expelled by the IOC in June 2024, casting doubt on the future of Olympic boxing with associations urged to appoint a new global body.
“The GBF’s top executives are yet to determine whether to leave the IBA on the IOC’s orders but have stated that they would make a decision shortly.”
According to Mr Nettey, if Ghana wants its boxing team to compete in the upcoming Olympic and Commonwealth Games, then it must quit the IBA.
“Ghana has no choice but to join the World Boxing (WB) if we want our boxers to be part of the prestigious games (Olympic Games) and the Commonwealth games.
The future of our boxers and development of boxing really rests with World Boxing,” he said in an interview with the GNA Sports.
One major reason why the IBA was expelled from the IOC was a result of the integrity of bouts and judging, and Mr Nettey believes the IBA has fallen short of ensuring fairness in the sport.
“The IBA has demonstrated immensely that they cannot be fair in their officiating, and this has been the most pressing issue among many others for which the IOC wanted boxing out of the Olympic Games if the IBA is in charge.
At the heart of the development of boxing is fairness and transparency; currently, IBA has none of these virtues.
It was so evident during the just-ended IBA Youth World Championship when Ghana’s Ebenezer Ankrah and Mathias Ashitey suffered daylight robbery in terms of officiating. This affects the confidence of athletes,” he stated.
Mr Nettey further disclosed that processes have already commenced to leave the IBA, though an official communiqué was yet to be released by the GBF. –GNA