IOC grants provisional recognition to World Boxing
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has provisionally recognised World Boxing as the governing body for the sport at future Olympic Games, marking a significant step in boxing’s bid to remain on the Olympic programme.
The decision, announced on Wednesday, comes after the IOC severed ties with the International Boxing Association (IBA) over financial mismanagement, governance failures, and ethical concerns. The IBA, led by Russian official Umar Kremlev, was previously responsible for overseeing Olympic boxing but was stripped of its role in organising the sport at the Paris 2024 Games.
World Boxing, established in 2023, now has 78 member federations, including major boxing nations such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia, and Brazil.
IOC president Thomas Bach had warned national boxing federations that they needed a “reliable” international partner to ensure the sport’s inclusion at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The IOC, in its statement, acknowledged World Boxing’s efforts in meeting governance and compliance standards.
“World Boxing has demonstrated strong willingness and effort in enhancing good governance and implementation, to be compliant with the appropriate standards,” the IOC said.
World Boxing president Boris van der Vorst welcomed the recognition, calling it “an important milestone.”
“This is a very significant day for everyone connected with the sport of boxing in the Olympic Movement,” van der Vorst said. “Keeping its place at the Olympic Games is absolutely critical to the future of our sport at every level.”
Kazakhstan’s former unified middleweight world champion Gennadiy Golovkin, who heads World Boxing’s Olympic Commission, also hailed the decision.
“Receiving provisional Olympic recognition from the IOC is an important achievement and demonstrates that our sport is on the right path,” said Golovkin, a silver medallist at the 2004 Athens Games.
(Source: AFP)
