The International Boxing Association (IBA) said on Wednesday it would follow the example of track and field’s global federation by paying prize money for medals at the Paris Olympics.
The IBA has made the move despite the fact that the boxing programme at the Paris Games will be run by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) after the federation was stripped of the role because of concerns about its financial transparency.
The IBA, which is backed by Russian gas giant Gazprom, is going further than World Athletics, which is paying $50,000 to gold medallists, but nothing to the minor medallists at this year’s Games.
The IBA says it will pay gold, silver and bronze medallists bonuses from a total budget of $3.1 million.
The IBA’s move comes following World Athletics’s move back in April to award eaach individual Olympic champion will receive $50,000 and relay teams will receive the same amount, to be shared among the team members.
The total prize fund of $2.4 million will come from the International Olympic Committee’s revenue share allocation that World Athletics receives every four years.
Prize money will be paid to the winners of silver and bronze medals from the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, the international federation added.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said in a statement: “The introduction of prize money for Olympic gold medallists is a pivotal moment for World Athletics and the sport of athletics as a whole, underscoring our commitment to empowering the athletes and recognising the critical role they play in the success of any Olympic Games.
World Athletics’ move has attracted criticism from other federations and IOC president Thomas Bach has distanced himself from the move.
In an interview with AFP in April, Bach said: “The international federations have to treat all their member federations and their athletes on an equal basis and to try to balance this gap between the privileged and the less or under-privileged.”
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