The number of members of the organisation that aspires to become the governing body of boxing worldwide has increased to 72 countries after its Executive Committee approved this week the affiliation applications of the National Federations of Egypt, Gambia, Kiribati, and Grenada.
After passing the required process, the arrival of the new members brings a greater presence of World Boxing in those continents with a more modest boxing tradition. Thus, the incorporation of Egypt and Gambia raises to five the number of affiliated African federations, while the case of Kiribati raises to seven the list of members from Oceania.
Like previous applicants, all the newly arrived federations have successfully completed the requirements phase demanded by a project of this magnitude. Specifically, through their statutes and operational processes, they have demonstrated that they are capable of carrying out a transparent electoral process, that they comply with the policies established by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), and that they have a structured dispute and appeal resolution mechanism that is entirely independent or subject to external contributions.
In addition to this, other signs that reveal that the Gambian and these federations enjoy a good reputation are, for example, that they have a solid boxing sports programme and that they have formal recognition from their respective National Olympic Committees or Ministries of Sport.
World Boxing continues to strive to gather as many national federations as possible to achieve the highest level of international representation. This ambitious initiative was launched in May 2023 with the aim of obtaining recognition from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and consolidating itself as the world governing body of boxing.
For Boris van der Vorst, President of World Boxing, the approval of another four applications is a sign of the organisation’s continuous progress and the widespread desire for change that exists throughout the sport. “It is clear that the only way for boxing to remain part of the Olympic Movement is for the National Federations to support us. It is good to see that boxing leaders from all parts of the world recognise this and are applying to join us,” he said.
Van der Vorst took the opportunity to encourage national leaders to join the organisation amid the current uncertainty facing boxing, a discipline that today remains excluded from the programme for Los Angeles 2028. The Olympic inclusion of this sport remains in the air after the IOC revoked in April 2023 the recognition of the International Boxing Association (IBA) as the governing body due to issues of financial transparency, governance, and integrity.
As a result, the IBA did not participate in organising the Olympic qualifiers or the boxing tournament for the Paris 2024 Games, matters that the IOC assumed independently. Since then, the IBA has continued to defend its interests, both in court and in its daily operations, while World Boxing appeared on the scene to fill the void and has been steadily attracting national federations to its cause.
With both organisations vying for leadership, the day is approaching when the IOC will finally decide whether to recognise one of the two or, in the worst case, exclude boxing entirely from the LA28 programme. Such an outcome would be a severe blow to a sport that has only been absent from the modern Olympic Games once: in 1912, when Swedish law prevented it from being held in Stockholm.
The IOC has indicated that a final decision will be made in the first quarter of 2025. Coincidentally, the IOC presidential elections are also scheduled for March, so a change of leader in the Olympic movement could have a significant impact on the future of boxing. The rivalry between the two organisations over the sport’s governance remains intense.
