Please click here for the status of Irish sport in relation to the qualification process for the Tokyo Olympics.

In boxing, Irish captain Brendan Irvine qualified for Tokyo in the flyweight class at the European qualifiers in London last March.

But the tournament was canceled after three days of competition on March 16 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

As things stand, nine Irish boxers will still be in play at the European qualifiers when the tournament resumes.

Irvine, having secured a quota place, will meet Spain’s Gabriel Escobar in the quarter-finals of the competition with at least bronze up for grabs.

There will be on final World qualifier for Tokyo after the European event concludes.

The exact dates and venues for the European and World qualifiers, which are expected to go ahead next February/March and May/June, have yet to be confirmed.

144, including the IABA, out of 200 National Federations are eligible for the upcoming AIBA Ordinary Congress to be held on December 12-13, 2020.

A new AIBA President will be elected at the virtual Congress.

The full list of eligible National Federations can be found below.

List of the eligible NFs

Following the submission of a detailed application covering club and NGB needs in September 2020, Sport Ireland has announced the allocation of €645,000 to the IABA from the ‘Sport Resilience Fund’. This represents the 10^th largest National Governing Body (NGB) allocation outside of Football, Rugby & the GAA (who are catered for through a separate strand of the funding). The ‘Sport Resilience Fund’ was established by the government earlier in the year in recognition that the sports sector is one of the worst impacted sectors by Covid19.

The €645,000 is allocated as follows:

• €500,000 in club support funding
• €145,000 in support for The IABA as an NGB

Welcoming the announcement, IABA CEO Fergal Carruth had the following to say…

‘The Covid-19 pandemic has had a very serious impact on the sport of boxing. The IABA, our clubs and members have suffered through this unprecedented global medical crisis, which continues to impact on our organisation. Despite these challenges our innovative clubs, members and volunteers have proven to be resilient and have done everything possible to keep going, albeit at great financial cost. We are delighted to be able to access this financial support for our clubs at a time when they need it most. On behalf of all our clubs & members I would like to sincerely thank Sport Ireland and the Irish Government for this support investment.’

We will be in contact with our club network soon with further details.

Please find attached home training sessions for Youth and Junior teams.

The International Boxing Association (AIBA) will elect a new President before year’s end.

The election is scheduled to be held virtually during the AIBA Extraordinary Congress on December 12 and 13.

Each National Association, including Ireland, has one vote.

Morocco’s Mohamed Moustahsane is the current AIBA Interim President.

The deadline for entries for the AIBA Presidency is November 2.

As things stand, there are five entries.

Candidates

AIBA Honorary Vice President Domingo Solano
Asian Boxing Confederation President Anas Al Otaiba
Azerbaijan’s Executive Committee Member Suleyman Mikayilov
Dutch Boxing Federation President Boris van der Vorst
Russian Boxing Federation Secretary-General Umar Kremlev