The International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) executive board proposed that boxing be included in the Los Angeles 2028 Summer Olympics, concluding the prolonged controversy over the sport’s future in the Games.
IOC president Thomas Bach said at a press conference: “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… I am confident the session will approve it.”
In a significant development last month, the IOC granted provisional recognition to World Boxing, taking a major step towards ensuring the sport’s place in the 2028 Olympics.
Now, the recommendation will be presented for a vote at the IOC session in Greece, and it is expected to pass easily, with boxing being one of the most beloved and established sports in the Olympic Games.
Initial exclusion of boxing in the Games
The IOC had originally excluded boxing from the LA 2028 programme, encouraging national boxing federations to create a new global organisation.
In 2023, World Boxing was formed and now boasts over 80 national federations as members.
The IOC emphasised that only athletes from national federations that have joined World Boxing by the time qualification events for the 2028 Olympics start will be eligible to participate in Los Angeles.
IOC sports director Kit McConnell was asked about the deadline for national federations to join World Boxing for their athletes to qualify for Los Angeles. He said: “Somewhere between two years before the Games.”
He added: “It is not frozen. Now we see an acceleration of the number of federations joining (World Boxing). They need to be members at the time of the qualification events.”
In 2019, the IOC suspended the International Boxing Association (IBA), led by Russian businessman Umar Kremlev, due to concerns over governance, finance, refereeing, and ethical issues. The IOC also excluded the IBA from overseeing boxing events at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and, in 2023, took the rare step of stripping it of recognition.