Boxing was included in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic program after a unanimous vote of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Thursday, ending years of doubt about the Olympic sport future.
The IOC last month granted provisional recognition to world boxing in an important step towards the inclusion of sport at the Los Angeles Games and today’s decision assured that the Olympic presence of sport would continue.
“I appreciate the approval of having a back of return. We can expect a great boxing tournament,” said COI president Thomas Bach.
The boxing competition at the Paris 2024 games was directed by the IOC after the International Boxing Association (IBA) of recognition in 2023 for not implementing reforms on governance and finance.
The IOC had not included the sport in the initial program of the 2028, after having urged the National Boxing Federations to create a new Boxing Global Agency to replace the IBA.
World Boxing, currently with more than 80 national federations as members, was launched in 2023.
“This is a great day for boxers, boxing and all who connect with our sport at all levels of the world,” said World Boxing president, Boris van der Vorst.
“This result has been achieved by a massive effort of the team … and it would not have been possible without the hard work and commitment of all national federations, boxers, coaches, officials and boxing leaders who have worked together to allow this to happen.
“World Boxing understands that being part of the Olympic Games is a privilege and not a right and we are determined to be a reliable and reliable partner who adheres and defend the values of the Olympic movement,” he said.
The IOC has said that only athletes whose national federations were members of world boxing at the time of the start of the qualification events for the 2028 Olympic Games could participate in Los Angeles.
The IOC suspended the IBA, led by Russian businessman Umar Kremlev with close links with the Kremlin, in 2019 about the government, finance, arbitration and ethical problems.
He did not involve the execution of boxing events at the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games, and in a rare movement two years later he stripped him of recognition.
