The Executive Board of World Boxing met in Glasgow today to review progress across a wide range of strategic, sporting and governance matters as the International Federation continues its preparations for the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028 and the further development of boxing worldwide.
A key focus of the meeting, hosted by President Gennadiy Golovkin and Secretary General Tom Dielen, was the allocation of major international competitions for the 2027–2029 cycle, including the Olympic qualification pathway for LA2028.
The Executive Board reviewed the proposed hosts for the continental qualification tournaments in 2027 and the two World Qualification Tournaments in 2028, with hosting agreements now progressing for almost all qualifying events.
With the next World Championships taking place in Asia, the ExCo decided that the best bids for the two Olympic World Qualifier events came from Italy and Hungary.
The approved hosts are:
Continental Olympic Qualification Tournaments:
• Americas – United States
• Asia – China
• Europe – European Games, Istanbul
• Oceania – Samoa (pending delivery of key documents in the coming weeks)
• Africa – Nigeria (pending delivery of key documents in the coming weeks)
World Qualification Tournaments
• World Qualification Tournament 1 – Italy
• World Qualification Tournament 2 – Hungary
Final hosting agreements will be completed over the coming months.
The Executive Board also reviewed preparations for the 2027 World Boxing Championships in Astana and the wider international competition calendar through to the end of the Los Angeles Olympic cycle.
Beyond competition matters, the Board continued its work to strengthen the governance and long-term development of World Boxing.
Members received an update on preparations for the World Boxing Congress, which will be held in Panama in November 2026, including proposed amendments to the Statutes, committee structure, and election procedures.
The Executive Committee also reviewed:
• Progress on the ASOIF Governance Review Action Plan, which is proceeding at pace and is designed to further strengthen transparency, integrity, and governance throughout the organisation.
• Proposals to establish new commissions covering Governance, Remuneration, Para Boxing, Gender Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, and Ambassadors & Global Impact.
• Applications from new National Federations and continued growth in World Boxing membership.
• The ExCo accepted that Russian athletes would now take part in World Boxing competitions like boxers from any other national federation. However, World Boxing will strictly monitor the behaviour of Russian delegations during events as well as compliance with anti-doping protocols.
• Proposals for a new membership fee structure from 2027 onwards.
• Financial matters, including the audited 2025 accounts, the Finance and Audit Committee report, and the proposed budget for 2026–2029.
• Commercial and contractual developments, including procurement processes for future World Boxing events.
• Updates from the Medical Committee regarding athlete eligibility policies.
• Executive Committee calendar for the remainder of 2026.
Speaking after the meeting, World Boxing President Gennadiy Golovkin said: “Today’s discussions and decisions demonstrated the significant progress World Boxing continues to make both inside and outside the ring. From securing hosts for the Olympic qualification pathway to strengthening our governance, expanding our global membership and preparing for Congress, we are building an organisation that is stronger, more transparent and ready to deliver boxing’s successful future within the Olympic Movement.”
Speaking about the governance and eligibility work discussed at the meeting, Secretary General Tom Dielen added: “The ASOIF review confirmed what we had already flagged ourselves, and gave our working group some clear priorities to fix. As for Eligibility, we put a testing requirement in place before the IOC finalised its own approach, to remove uncertainty for our athletes. But having moved first, we want to continually review our process, which is why we are now collaborating closely with the IOC’s medical team.”