Last throw of the dice by International Boxing Association on the eve of the Paris Olympics in war with IOC

In a statement, the IBA rejected the IOC’s position and now "seek more clarification from their rejected appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which now means the Swiss Federal Tribunal will investigate whether the CAS decision was unlawful."

The IBA statement continued: “The Swiss Federal Tribunal’s acceptance of our appeal is incredibly positive for the boxing world, as few cases are accepted by the court at this level, showing the complexity of the issue.

“We are adamant the CAS has not applied the law correctly, and therefore, cannot justifiably reject our appeal against the IOC’s decision, making the rejection made by CAS unlawful."

The statement concluded: “IBA is confident justice will be shown in the Swiss Federal Tribunal appeal and eagerly awaits the conclusion of this investigation."

The IOC have been asked for a comment.

Essentially, this is the last throw of the dice by the Russian-led IBA against the decision of the IOC to expel them, which opened the way for the newly established World Boxing organisation to be ultimately recognised by the IOC as the new global governing body for the sport.

An IOC-appointed Task Force will run the boxing tournament at the Paris Olympics later this month. The sport is not included in the programme for the Los Angeles Games in 2028.

The IOC are adamant they will not work again with the IBA and the only way boxing can be saved as an Olympic sport is if enough national federations link up with World Boxing to make it a credible alternative to the IBA.

Meanwhile, Ireland finished third in the medals table behind Russia and Armenia at the European Youth Championships, run under the auspices of the IBA in Sarajevo at the weekend, winning two gold and five bronze medals.

Welterweight gold medallist John Donoghue (Mullingar Olympic BC) was named Male Boxer of the Tournament.

Donoghue is now the reigning world and European youth 66kg champion and one of the brightest prospects in boxing.

Interestingly, Russian boxers dominated the championships, securing a massive haul of 22 medals; they had 16 boxers in Sunday’s finals and all 16 won gold medals.

The Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) remains a member of the IBA. The strongest argument clubs have for staying within the IBA fold is if they link up with World Boxing underage boxers in Ireland will miss out on the opportunity to win European and world medals.

The IABA will ultimately have to make a call because, at some point in the next four years, if the IOC agree to restore boxing to the Olympic programme, it is probable only boxers with national federations affiliated to World Boxing will be eligible to compete in LA 2028.