Boxing clears the final hurdle to remain on the Olympic program. The sport will also be held at the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
20.03.2025, 11:39
20.03.2025, 11:50
SDA
As expected, the members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted at their plenary session in Costa Navarino in Greece in favor of keeping boxing on the Olympic competition calendar, following the recommendation of the IOC Executive Board. The Olympic governing body had laid the foundation for its retention at the end of February when it provisionally recognized World Boxing as a new international federation.
The discussions about boxing's Olympic status had sparked a fierce rift between the IOC and the International Boxing Association (IBA), which has since been expelled. The IBA has been criticized for corruption, management problems and distortion of competition. The IOC was therefore responsible for organizing the boxing tournaments at the 2021 Games in Tokyo and three years later in Paris. For the Games in Los Angeles, boxing was initially no longer included in the competition program.
Since its foundation in November of last year, the new World Boxing Association has united over 80 national federations from five continents, thus fulfilling an important IOC criterion for recognition. The federation also meets the IOC's requirements in terms of anti-doping and transparency.
