World Boxing reached an important milestone in its development by attending its first formal meeting with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) with the goal to ensure boxing is in the Olympic Games for LA28.
Monday’s meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland at the Olympic House, headquarters of the IOC, between the key figures from the IOC and World Boxing addressed the pathway for the future of boxing at the Olympic Games.
As of today, boxing is not on the Olympic Programme for LA 28 which is an alarming fact for all involved in boxing. During the meeting the IOC clearly indicated that the new International Federation had to be supported by a global body of National Federations and the new International Federation had to show evidence of proper governance and leadership for the sport for the IOC to consider to put boxing back on the Olympic programme of LA28.
Currently World Boxing is the only suitable International Federation to fulfil this mandate and is grateful to the IOC for starting a formal dialogue and outlining a future pathway to keep the sport in the Olympic Games.
Boris van der Vorst, World Boxing President stated after the meeting, “Once again, we thank the IOC for their commitment and perseverance with boxing in the Olympic Games having run two Olympic editions themselves. Now it is time for World Boxing and National Federations to learn from their best practices and applied ethical principles.”
“It is clearly imperative that those boxing nations interested to compete in the Olympic Games in the future need to show urgently their intent and commitment to the Olympic Games by joining World Boxing and retaining boxing at the Olympic Games. Otherwise, the loss of boxing’s Olympic status would be our worst nightmare.”
World Boxing was launched in April 2023. 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. In November 2023, World Boxing held its inaugural Congress in Frankfurt where it conducted open, transparent and fair elections which saw members vote to elect a President and Executive Board.