The International Olympic Committee has unanimously voted for boxing to be included in the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
The IOC has run boxing at the past two Olympics after the International Boxing Association (IBA) was suspended as the sport’s world governing body in 2019 because of governance, finance, refereeing and ethical issues.
Subsequently, World Boxing was formed in April 2023 and now has 78 members across five continents.
World Boxing was granted provisional recognition as the sport’s international governing federation by the International Olympic Committee in February.
Boxing was not part of the programme for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, but the sport has now been granted permission to be part of the games in the ongoing session in Greece.
IOC outgoing President, Thomas Bach is looking forward to having boxing in the next Olympics.
He said: “I thank you for the approval of having boxing back. We can look forward to a great boxing tournament”.
The President of World Boxing, Boris van der Vorst described it as a great day for Boxing, while promising to operate with transparency and sporting integrity.
He said: “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.
“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.”
Boxing has featured at every Olympics since 1904, except 1912, but the IOC has run the sport at the past two Games after the International Boxing Association (IBA) was suspended in 2019.
For the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games, the IOC implemented their own taskforce to manage the boxing tournaments.
The IOC also confirmed that only athletes whose national federations are members of World Boxing by the time of the start of the qualification events for the 2028 Olympics can take part in Los Angeles
