Written by Matt Bozzito
World Boxing is calling on more countries to join in the bid to continue boxing in the Olympic Games.
World Boxing held its first meeting with the International Olympic Committee this week.
Delegates met on Monday at the IOC's Olympic House headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.
As it stands, boxing is not included in the program for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
After banning the IBA, the IOC organized qualifying for this summer's Paris Games, but stressed that this was impossible to continue and a new international federation was needed to run the sport.
World Boxing was launched in April last year and has since held three World Boxing Cup events in Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, and membership numbers have steadily increased.
At a press conference last month, World Boxing revealed it had 28 member nations, with Secretary General Simon Toulson saying: “We are talking to 25 to 30 countries, and behind that there is another group of countries. “There is,” he said.
President Boris van der Vorst also told reporters that World Boxing was in a position to meet with the IOC to discuss the future of the sport, with the first meeting held this week.
The IOC said a new international federation must be established by “early 2025”.
During the meeting, the IOC stated that the new international federation needs the support of the global organization of national federations, and appropriate governance and leadership for the sport in order to consider the return of boxing to the program of the 2028 Olympic Games. He emphasized the need to show evidence of
Mr van der Vorst said after the meeting: “Boxing nations interested in participating in the Olympic Games in the future need to urgently demonstrate their intentions and commitment to the Olympic Games by joining World Boxing and continuing boxing at the Olympic Games. That's clear.''
“Otherwise, losing boxing's Olympic status would be our worst nightmare.”
At the press conference, it was revealed that Ukraine, which has a strong tradition of Olympic boxing, has not yet applied to join World Boxing, while currently there are only two Asian countries, Mongolia and the Philippines, and Nigeria, in Africa. Announced.
Toulson emphasized that countries in Asia and Africa are processing applications.