The National Federations for boxing in Denmark, Mongolia, Panama and French Polynesia have been confirmed as the latest four members of World Boxing, the new international federation established to keep boxing at the heart of the Olympic movement and support the growth and development of the sport at local, regional, national and international levels.
The addition of four more countries means World Boxing now has 16 members.
Mongolia, which has a proud tradition in boxing and has won seven Olympic medals since 1988, is the first National Federation from Asia to join World Boxing and means it now has members from five continents.
The National Federation for French Polynesia is a new organisation that has been approved by the country’s National Olympic Committee (NOC) and Sports Ministry. It has never been affiliated to IBA and is the first National Federation to be recognised by World Boxing that has not been a member of IBA.
All of the members 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 for the appointment of office bearing roles
- The existence and operation of WADA-recognised anti-doping polices and processes
- Evidence of a structured, dispute resolution and appeals process that is either fully independent or subject to external input
- Formal recognition by either their National Olympic Committee (NOC) or Ministry for Sport
- Have a solid national and international boxing sports programme
The applications were approved by the Executive Board of World Boxing and will be ratified at the organisation’s inaugural Congress in November 2023.
All of World Boxing’s members will be invited to attend the Congress and have had the opportunity to nominate candidates for the offices of President, Vice President (VP) and places on World Boxing’s Executive Board and the Chairs of the Sport and Competition Committee, the Medical and Anti-Doping Committee and the Finance and Audit Committee. All full members will have voting rights at the Congress.
World Boxing’s Secretary General, Simon Toulson, said: “This is the third cohort of countries to join World Boxing in the last month and is a sign of both the desire for change that exists across the sport and the recognition by National Federations of the critical importance of boxing remaining at the heart of the Olympic movement.
“We have letters of intent from a healthy number of National Federations that plan to join World Boxing and are currently processing a backlog of additional membership applications, so it is clear that there are many countries that want to work with an international federation that is committed to integrity, honesty and excellence and creating a better future for the sport.”
World Boxing was launched in April 2023 and aims to ensure that boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic movement. It will seek recognition from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and plans to work constructively and collaboratively to develop a pathway that will preserve boxing’s ongoing place on the Olympic competition programme at Los Angeles 2028 and beyond.
The first cohort of World Boxing members was made-up of USA Boxing, New Zealand Boxing, Boxing Australia, GB Boxing, England Boxing and the Dutch Boxing Federation. They were joined in August 2023 by the National Federations for boxing in Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Honduras and Sweden.
Further information on World Boxing is available at www.worldboxing.org.