A statement has been issued by the International Federation for Sports Officials (IFSO) condemning what it claimed was a "political decision" by the IBA to warn technical officials about potential sanctions if they participate at IOC-run tournaments.

The IFSO, which was founded in 2019 with the aim of enhancing officiating across all sports, claimed that the IBA, led by Russian official Umar Kremlev, had put judges and referees in a "very uncomfortable" position and, by issuing the warning, had "declared war on the IOC".

The comments come after insidethegames obtained a letter sent by the IBA to all technical officials, referees and judges warning them not to take up the IOC’s offer to voluntarily participate in its Olympic qualifying competitions and Paris 2024 boxing event.

If they do, the IBA said it would be in breach of its technical and competition rules and be subject to possible sanctions.

A Paris 2024 Boxing Unit is set to run the Olympic qualifiers and main event at next year’s Games after the IBA was stripped of the rights by the IOC due to persistent governance concerns.

"The IBA has just declared war on the IOC by threatening the referees and judges participating in the Olympic qualifications with the most serious sanctions," said IFSO President Patrick Vajda.

"Once again, they are attacking those who have no means of defending themselves, and who today find themselves in a very uncomfortable or even impossible position to manage.

"Taking the judges and referees hostage clearly demonstrates that the technical officials are an integral part of the competition and that they must be supported and protected as the athletes are by the highest international bodies and in this case by the IOC."

The Women’s World Championships is currently taking place here in Indian capital New Delhi but it will not count as an Olympic qualifier.

Under the IOC’s boxing qualification model, the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games, Kraków-Małopolska 2023 European Games, Solomon Islands 2023 Pacific Games and the delayed Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games would be used as qualifiers for Paris 2024.

The Accra 2023 African Games were also expected to be a qualification event only to be postponed until 2024, leaving the IOC to work on an alternative with the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa.

Two world qualification tournaments are also being planned by the IOC to take place in 2024 when the remaining quota places will be determined before the Olympics are staged in Paris.

The letter, signed by IBA's development director Chris Roberts, stipulates that under its rules, National Federations, their teams, individual boxers or competition officials are prohibited from participating in an international tournament that is not approved in advance by the worldwide governing body for boxing.

The IBA said it was disappointed that the IOC had not contacted them in advance "as a matter of courtesy" before approaching technical officials.

The International Basketball Federation, the International Cycling Union, the International University Sports Federation, World Rowing and World Squash are among the members of the IFSO.

Vajda claimed "severe threats hang over" boxing judges and referees following the IBA’s warning.

"The reactions are not numerous and those who cry scandal following an erroneous decision are absent from the debates, not worrying of the fate reserved for those who have as much impact on the result of a combat as the fighters themselves," added Vajda.

"Yet the questions are clear: how to have the best referees for the Olympics? How to help them progress?

"The IFSO condemns this political decision of the IBA which unfairly sanctions international referees and their possibility of evolving in their career as officials."

The IBA had its IOC recognition withdrawn in June 2019 due to concerns over judging and refereeing, financial stability and governance, leading to the IOC Boxing Task Force handling the sport at Tokyo 2020.

It was then announced by the IOC in June last year that it would take over the running of boxing events at Paris 2024, including qualification competitions because of continuing problems within the worldwide governing body.

Last month, the IBA criticised the IOC for "numerous delays" on publishing a "clear" system as it released its own qualification criteria that included the Women’s and Men’s World Championships as qualifiers.

The IOC then hit back by reiterating that the IBA will not be involved in organising the Paris 2024 boxing qualifications and tournaments.

insidethegames has contacted the IBA for comment in response to the IFSO's accusations.