The executive board of the International Olympic Committee has recommended that boxing be added to the schedule for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
World Boxing was granted provisional accreditation as the sport’s international governing body this month, although the sport was not included in the original program when it was announced in 2022.
Although the IOC still needs to ratify the recommendation at this week’s meeting in Greece, departing IOC president Thomas Bach anticipates that it will be approved.
“After the provisional recognition of World Boxing in February we were in a position to take this decision,” Bach said on Monday.
“This recommendation has to go to the session, but I am very confident they will approve it so that all the boxers of the world then have certainty they can participate in the Olympic Games in LA.”
For the sport to be included in the next Games, the largest obstacle was the establishment of a new international organization.
Due to concerns over governance, finances, refereeing, and ethics, the International Boxing Association (IBA) was suspended as the sport’s world regulatory organization in 2019. Since then, the IOC has overseen boxing at the last two Olympics.
After failing to enact reforms, the Russian-led IBA lost its status in June 2023.
When two boxers, Imane Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan, competed in the Olympics in Paris last year, the IOC and the IBA clashed.
The IOC permitted the fighters to compete, but the IBA disqualified them halfway through the 2023 World Championships on the grounds that they had not met gender eligibility requirements.
In reaction, President of World Boxing, Boris van der Vorst, welcomed the new development.
“This is a very significant and important decision for Olympic boxing and takes the sport one step closer to being restored to the Olympic programme,” he said.
“I have no doubt it will be very positively received by everyone connected with boxing, at every level throughout the world, who understands the critical importance to the future of the sport of boxing continuing to remain a part of the Olympic movement.
“On behalf of everyone at World Boxing I would like to thank the Executive Board of the IOC for the trust they have placed in our organisation and we hope for a positive outcome when the IOC Session meets this week.