The Olympic qualifying tournament for boxers from the Americas has been scrapped with quota places for the Olympic Games in Tokyo this summer, which would have been distributed at the event, will now be decided based on world rankings. 

Originally scheduled for Buenos Aires in April last year, the tournament was postponed and then rearranged for next month. But with Argentina still in the grip of Covid and international travel difficult, the Boxing Task Force (BTF), which took over running Olympic boxing from AIBA, decided to cancel the event and not rearrange it. 

The European qualifier, which was postponed after three days of competition in London last March, is still due to resume in Paris in June. The world qualifying tournament, for boxers who did not qualify through the continental events, has already been scrapped, with the quota places from that event handed out on the basis of BTF ranking system. 

“This is a difficult decision, but it is one that puts boxers first and gives athletes, National Federations and National Olympic Committees certainty ahead of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020,” said the BTF Chair, Morinari Watanabe. “The development of the situation in Argentina and across the region, and the resulting travel restrictions to and from Buenos Aires, could have resulted in athletes and teams not being able to participate in the qualifier, which is a risk that could not be taken.” 

A total of 49 quota places had been up for grabs in Buenos Aires, which had due to be attended by 400 people from 80 nations, including officials. 

A statement from the BTF said: “Given the nature of the event as an Olympic qualifier which will award a large number of direct quota places (49) for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, ensuring fair access and a safe environment for all athletes and officials is of the greatest importance. This is in line with the key principles followed by the BTF, which remains committed to delivering a fair and equitable Olympic qualification process, providing certainty to the athletes and allowing sufficient time for them to prepare for Tokyo 2020, while always prioritizing athlete health and safety. 

“Unfortunately, the current situation in the region does not provide the assurances needed for these principles to be followed at the event scheduled in Buenos Aires. 

“For this reason, after a thorough assessment and consultations with teams, the BTF’s Athlete Ambassadors and boxing experts plus the Local Organizing Committee, the BTF has decided to cancel the event and restructure the Tokyo 2020 qualification pathway for the Americas region. 

“The BTF studied alternative options, but due to the complexity and nature of the sport of boxing and the large number of international participants (400 people from 80 nations, including technical officials) it was deemed not possible either to change the location, with less than four weeks to go, or to reschedule the event to a later date.” 

The Olympics are due to open in Tokyo on July 23. 

Ron Lewis is a senior writer for BoxingScene. He was Boxing Correspondent for The Times, where he worked from 2001-2019 - covering four Olympic Games and numerous world title fights across the globe. He has written about boxing for a wide variety of publications worldwide since the 1980s.