LAUSANNE: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Wedne­sday provisionally recognised the recently created World Boxing as the body to oversee the sport at future Games.

The IOC severed links with the International Boxing Association (IBA), the long-standing ruling body of amateur boxing, over financial, governance and ethical concerns and took over the organisation of the sport at Paris 2024. The IBA is chaired by the Kre­mlin-linked Russian Umar Kremlev.

“The (IOC) assessment concluded that World Boxing has continued to make progress regarding the identified areas of consideration in order to be recommended for IOC Provisional Recognition as the IF [International Federation] within the Olympic Movement governing the sport of boxing at world level,” the IOC said.

World Boxing was founded in 2023 and boasts 78 members led by the US, the UK, France, Germany, Australia and Brazil.

IOC president Thomas Bach had warned that boxing’s national federations needed to find a new and “reliable” international partner if it wanted to ensure that the sport features on the programme at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

The IOC said the body “has demonstrated strong willingness and effort in enhancing good governance and implementation, to be compliant with the appropriate standards”.

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2025