Nigeria is the first National Federation from Africa to join World Boxing and means the new international federation now has 22 members covering all five continents that compete in Olympic-style boxing.
The six new joiners will be eligible to take part in World Boxing’s inaugural Congress in Frankfurt Am Main on 24 and 25 November 2023 which will have at least the same number of members as the equivalent inaugural Congress held by AIBA (now known as IBA) in London in 1946.
The six new members 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
- A solid national and international boxing sports programme
The applications have been approved by the Executive Board of World Boxing and will be ratified at the inaugural Congress in Frankfurt.
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.
“It is clear from comments made at its recent Session that the IOC is supportive of boxing, as a sport, and wants it to remain part of the Olympic programme and that the only way to do this is for National Federations to get behind a new international federation that is committed to integrity, transparency and rigorous governance standards.
“World Boxing is the only organisation that can deliver this and the consistent growth in our membership along with the continued interest we are receiving from National Federations on all continents is a clear sign of the growing support for World Boxing and widespread desire for change that exists across the sport.
“We are continuing to process membership applications from around the globe and look forward to welcoming more countries to be part of World Boxing in advance of our inaugural Congress.”
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. The third group to join included the National Federations of Denmark, Mongolia, Panama and French Polynesia.