What boxing needs to do to remain in Olympics in LA 2028

New Delhi: The sport of boxing needs to form a new world governing body to retain its place in th next Olympics at Los Angeles in 2028, the International Olympic Committee said on Tuesday.

The International Boxing Association stands de-recognised by the IOC for inability to take measures to reform governance and finance with boxing has not included in the Olympics charter for LA 2028 yet.

“We would love to see boxing, we want to see boxing on the programme in LA. Now it is up to the boxing community to organise themselves for the sport and for the athletes,” IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said at a press conference.

Last year, a new governing body named World Boxing came into existence and currently has 37 members but is still not recognised by the IOC and has a lot less members than the IBA.

IBA president Umar Kremlev has defended himself over corruption and on Monday in an online media interactio while launching into an attack on IOC president Thomas Bach and criticising the Paris Olympics opening ceremony.

Gender dispute to the fore

A fresh exchange of verbal volleys between the IOC and IBA began over the participation of two female boxers, Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting at Paris 2024.

The two boxers were banned by the IBA during the 2023 World Championships over gender ineligibility as per chromosome test records. But in the eyes of IOC both are women and have been allowed to compete at Paris.

“I am not going to comment on the chaotic scenes yesterday. It clearly demonstrates that the sport of boxing needs a new federation to run boxing,” Adams said.

“If you ever needed any evidence at all that the IBA is unfit to run boxing just look at the key members of the IBA who took part in that travesty yesterday.”

The IOC and IBA have not met eye to eye for years now but it nosedived after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

At Tokyo 2020 and the ongoing Paris Games, the IOC conducted the boxing competition without the IBA but is unwilling to do so in LA 2028.

“We are not a federation and we desperately need a federation to run boxing,” Adams said.

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 The International Boxing Association stands de-recognised by the IOC for inability to take measures to reform governance and finance with boxing has not included in the Olympics charter for LA 2028 yet.  Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today