Boxing to feature at Los Angeles Olympic
Boxing will finally be included on the programme of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) executive board voted in the sport’s favour at the 144th session in Costa Navarino, Greece on Thursday.
The same meeting elected Kirsty Coventry as the 10th IOC president, the first woman and African to assume the office.
The IOC managed boxing at the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympics after suspending and expelling the IBA in 2019 and 2023 respectively over governance, finance, refereeing and ethical issues.
But the IOC said it needed a credible governing body to run Olympic boxing otherwise, it would be off the LA28 playlist.
Now after World Boxing, a rival faction seeking to replace IBA, got the IOC’s provisional recognition as the new international governing body, the fate of boxing at LA28 was secured.
The IBA challenged the move as a culmination of the IOC’s “step-by-step campaign of wiping the organisation from the sporting landscape.”
But World Boxing president Boris van
der Vorst, welcomed the news, saying: “This is a great day for boxers, boxing and everyone connected with our sport, at every level, across the world.
“This outcome has been achieved by a massive team effort by a huge number of people in every part of the world and would not have been possible without the hard work and commitment of all of the National
Federations, boxers, coaches, officials and boxing leaders that have worked together to enable this to happen. I would like to personally thank each and every one of them for their support and determination to ensure boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic Movement.
“World Boxing is very grateful to the IOC for the faith they have placed in our organisation by restoring boxing to the programme for LA2028, and I can reassure them that we will do everything in our power to ensure that we operate to the highest standards of governance and transparency and deliver sporting integrity.
“World Boxing understands that being part of the Olympic Games is a privilege and not a right and we are determined to be a trustworthy and reliable partner that will adhere to and uphold the values of the
Olympic Movement.
“There is still a lot of work to do, and everyone at World Boxing is committed to continuing to work together and doing everything within our power to deliver a better future for our boxers and for our sport.”
Boxing is one of the traditional Olympic sports since its debut at St. Louis, USA Olympic Games in 1904, and has featured in every edition except for Stockholm 1912, due to a local law banning the sport at the time.
But the disputes between IOC and IBA, which is led by Russian Umar Kremlev was threatening to knock it out of Los Angeles until the IOC gave it a reprieve.