Boxing pulls out of World Combat Games over IOC row (Reuters)

Boxing will no longer be part of the World Combat Games and the international federation is also leaving the SportAccord umbrella organization after its row with the International Olympic Committee, AIBA said on Thursday. The federation is the latest to leave SportAccord, an organization representing close to 100 Olympic and non-Olympic sports federations and organizers of multi-sports games, after SportAccord President Marius Vizer’s scathing attack on the IOC last month. “We have aimed to create a clear identity for the sport of boxing in the past 8 years of my presidency,” said AIBA chief Ching-Kuo Wu in a statement. “Boxing is a noble art and a traditional Olympic sport and we feel that the participation in the World Combat Games challenges this identity among boxing fans.” The decision is a further blow to Vizer, who emerged as a self-styled reformer of international sport when he took over the SportAccord presidency two years ago.