Boxing to be included in 2028 Olympics
Boxing is set to be included in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics after the International Olympic Committee, IOC gave initial clearance.
The IOC executive board on Monday recommended the inclusion of boxing in the 2028 summer Olympics, ending a long saga regarding the sport's Olympic future.
The IOC suspended the International Boxing Association, run by Russian businessman Umar Kremlev, in 2019 over governance, finance, refereeing, and ethical issues and did not involve it in running the boxing events at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, before stripping it of recognition in 2023, an extremely rare move by the IOC.
The boxing competition at the Paris 2024 Games was run by the IOC after it had stripped the International Boxing Association of recognition in 2023 over its failure to implement reforms on governance and finance.
The IOC last month granted provisional recognition to World Boxing in a major step toward the sport's inclusion in the 2028 Olympics.
"After the provisional recognition of World Boxing in February we were in the position to take this decision so that this recommendation has to go to the session," IOC President Thomas Bach told a press conference, as reported by Reuters.
"I am confident the session will approve it."
The recommendation will now be put to a vote at the IOC session in Greece this week and is expected to pass easily, with boxing among the popular Olympic sports.
The IOC had not included the sport in the initial Los Angeles 2028 programme, having urged national boxing federations to create a new global boxing body. World Boxing, now with more than 80 national federations as members, was launched in 2023.
"This is a very significant and important decision for Olympic boxing and takes the sport one step closer to being restored to the Olympic programme," Boris van der Vorst, president of World Boxing said in a statement quoted by Reuters.
"I have no doubt it will be very positively received by everyone connected with boxing, at every level throughout the world, who understands the critical importance to the future of the sport of boxing continuing to remain a part of the Olympic Movement."
The IOC said only athletes whose national federations were members of World Boxing by the time of the start of the qualification events for the 2028 Olympics could take part in Los Angeles.
