Boxing federation to pay bonuses for Olympic medals

AFP | Lausanne, Switzerland

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

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.