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World Boxing has opened registration for the World Boxing Congress 2026, which will take place on Friday, 20 November 2026, in Panama City, Panama in hybrid format.

The 2026 Congress will be an elective Congress, with seven positions on the Executive Board due to be elected. The official List of Nominated Candidates has now been published.

The Congress will conclude a week of World Boxing meetings in Panama City. The Executive Board will meet on 18 November, followed by the Pan-American Boxing Congress and the Official Welcome Gala Dinner on 19 November. The World Boxing Congress will convene on 20 November, with departures scheduled for 21 November.

The Congress and official accommodation will be hosted at Hotel El Panamá by Faranda Grand, Av. Central España 111, Panama City.

All registration, accommodation, transport and visa-letter requests must be completed through the official online entry system.

REGISTER FOR WORLD BOXING 2026 CONGRESS

Delegations and Voting

In accordance with the World Boxing Statutes, each Full Member may be represented at Congress by up to three delegates.

A third delegate may only be appointed where that delegate is of a different gender to the first two delegates. Each delegate must either hold the same nationality as the Member, have permanent residence in the Member’s country or territory, or work for that Member. No delegate may be appointed solely to act as a translator.

Each Full Member must nominate one delegate as its Voting Delegate. Only nominated Voting Delegates are entitled to vote on decisions at Congress.

The names of all delegates, including the nominated Voting Delegate, must be submitted to the World Boxing Secretary General, Tom DIELEN, at tdielen@worldboxing.org, no later than 30 days prior to Congress, by 21 October 2026, except in cases of force majeure.

Continental Associations and Associate Members may each be represented by up to two delegates.

Costs

All costs related to attendance at the Congress are the responsibility of the delegates of the National Federations and Executive Board members, with the exception of the Athletes’ Committee Chair and Deputy Chair.

Key deadlines to be aware of

The following deadlines must be strictly observed:

• 30 August 2026 — Visa support letter requests
• 14 September 2026 — Pre-entry hotel reservation
• 21 September 2026 — 60% payment for hotel and transport
• 28 September 2026 — Final hotel reservation
• 30 September 2026 — 100% payment for hotel and transport
• 21 October 2026 — Submission of the completed delegation list to the World Boxing Secretary General and any proposals for the Congress 2026 Agenda

Please note that no exceptions will be made to these deadlines. Any federation that registers by 21 October 2026 but does not attend will be charged in accordance with its registration.

Accommodation

The official Congress hotel is Hotel El Panamá by Faranda Grand, Av. Central España 111, Panama City.

The hotel offers single and double occupancy rooms at the following rates:

• USD 195 per person for single occupancy
• USD 350 for double occupancy

Rates apply to three- or four-night packages, with a per-night discount available for longer stays: USD 10 per night for a three-night stay and USD 20 per night for a four-night stay.

Reservations are subject to availability and are confirmed only upon receipt of payment. Payment must be made by bank transfer in USD. Credit card payments cannot be accepted.

Airport Transfers

The official port of entry for the World Boxing Congress 2026 is Panama International Airport.

Round-trip transfers between the airport and the official hotel may be booked through the Organising Committee at no additional cost, using the travel form provided to each registered delegate.

Visas

Visa requirements vary according to nationality. It is the responsibility of each delegate to verify whether a visa is required to enter Panama. Delegates may check their visa requirements using the CIBTvisas visa quick-check tool.

Visa applications must be submitted individually. The Organising Committee cannot apply for a visa on behalf of any delegate.

As visa processing times may vary, delegates are strongly encouraged to begin the process as early as possible. Requests for an official invitation or visa support letter must be sent to the Organising Committee, together with a scanned passport copy, no later than 30 August 2026.

Contacts

World Boxing Congress 2026, Panama Organising Committee

For organisation and visa matters:
Luis CESAR, cesaresinc@gmail.com
Amabelis CAMAÑO, yanycar3126@hotmail.com

For accommodation and transport:
Karibel ZAMORA, grupos.panama@farandahotels.com
Tel: +507 215-9996

World Boxing

Sandrine BLATTER MARTINEZ, sblatter@worldboxing.org

World Boxing has increased its membership to 89 countries after its Executive Board approved the applications of five more boxing National Federations.

The five new members are: the Bulgarian Boxing Federation, the Ghana Boxing Federation, the Sierra Leone Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Federation of the Bahamas and the Albania Boxing Federation.

The approval of the applications follows the recent decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to grant provisional recognition to World Boxing (25 February 2025) and its subsequent confirmation (20 March 2025) that boxing has been restored to the sport programme for LA28.

All of the new National Federations have completed a rigorous application process to join World Boxing. They are deemed to be in good standing and, through their statutes and operating processes, able to demonstrate a transparent and open election process, the existence and operation of WADA-recognised anti-doping polices and processes, evidence of independent, structured, dispute resolution and appeals processes, formal recognition by either their National Olympic Committee (NOC) or Ministry for Sport and a solid national and international boxing programme.

The additions of the National Federations for boxing Ghana and Sierra Leone increases World Boxing’s representation in Africa where it now has nine members.

The President of World Boxing, Boris van der Vorst, said: “After the recent confirmation that boxing will be part of the programme for LA28, the announcement of five more members, including two from Africa, is more great news for World Boxing as we go from strength to strength and continue to grow our global footprint.

“It is clear that the future of boxing as an Olympic sport lies with World Boxing.  The continued growth of our membership is further evidence of the widespread support that exists for our vision of the sport and an expression of confidence in World Boxing’s ability to deliver a better future for boxing that puts the interest of boxers at the heart of decision making.” 

Under World Boxing’s Statutes, the approval of the Executive Board means the five new National Federations have been endorsed for membership.  Final approval of membership status can only be conferred by Congress, which is the ultimate authority of World Boxing, and will be voted on at the next Congress in New Delhi in November 2025.

World Boxing was launched in April 2023 with a mission to ensure that boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic movement.

It held its first formal meeting with the IOC in May 2024 and on 25 February 2025, it was granted provisional recognition by the IOC as the International Federation (IF) within the Olympic Movement governing the sport of boxing at world level.