COSTA NAVARINO /Greece/, March 20. /TASS/. World Boxing is ready to discuss the terms of Russia’s participation in boxing events at the 2028 Summer Olympic Games in the United States, World Boxing chief Boris van der Vorst told TASS.
"For us [World Boxing] it is very important to unify the whole boxing world for world boxing and to have all the best boxers participate in the 2028 [Olympics]," he said. "For us it is very important to put the interests of boxers first and all boxers are welcome at the LA [Los Angeles Olympics] 2028," he said.
Earlier in the day, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that it would include the sport of boxing as an official event at the 2028 Summer Olympic Games under the supervision of World Boxing international federation.
The unanimous decision regarding this issue was made at the 144th IOC session, which is hosted by Greece between March 18 and 21. The 2028 Summer Olympic Games will be held in Los Angeles, California.
In late February, the IOC Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee provisionally recognized World Boxing as the official global governing body for the sport of boxing. According to the IOC, "World Boxing is composed of 78 National Federations from the five continents; and four continental confederations are already established."
In 2019, the IOC announced a decision to temporarily revoke the International Boxing Association’s (IBA) recognition status with the organization citing the financial and management crisis within the IBA as the reason. The IOC demanded the international boxing federation make reforms and suspended it from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
In June 2023, the IOC ruled at its session to strip the IBA of its Olympic membership stating that the boxing federation "failed to fulfil the conditions set by the IOC in its decision communicated to the IBA on 9 December 2021 - which was not challenged by the IBA - for lifting the suspension of the IBA’s recognition."
Russia’s Umar Kremlev took the reins of the IBA in late 2020. The international boxing federation took a stance against the IOC's recommendations to strip athletes representing Russia and Belarus of their national identity. Boxers from both countries compete in IBA-sponsored events without any international restrictions.
The boxing federations of the United States, Great Britain, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands and the Philippines canceled their membership in protest and formed a new international organization, World Boxing.
In mid-October 2023, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach ruled out any chance of the International Boxing Association (IBA) being reinstated to the Olympic movement.
In May 2024, the IOC declared that boxers representing national federations that are members of the International Boxing Association (IBA) would be banned from the 2028 Summer Olympic Games in the United States.