IOC sets early 2025 deadline to keep boxing in ’28 Games

LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND — The International Olympic Committee on Wednesday said it needs to find a suitable new international boxing body by early next year or else risk boxing dropping out of the Olympics for the Los Angeles Games in 2028.

The IOC stripped the International Boxing Association of the right to run the Olympic boxing tournaments in Tokyo in 2021 and Paris this year. On Tuesday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld the IOC’s decision to de-recognize the IBA, in effect cutting it out of the Olympic movement. The IOC has long cited concerns about the IBA’s governance and the integrity of how matches are refereed and judged. Last year, it also accused the IBA’s Russian President Umar Kremlev of using “violent and threatening language” about IOC personnel.

“Because of the universality and high social inclusivity of boxing, the IOC wants it to continue to feature on the program of the Olympic Games,” the IOC said Wednesday. “Unfortunately, this is far from certain for the Olympic Games LA 2028 because ... the IOC is not in a position to organize another Olympic boxing tournament. To keep boxing on the Olympic program, the IOC needs a recognized and reliable International Federation as a partner.” The IOC called on national boxing bodies and Olympic committees to help set up a new international governing body for boxing. To keep boxing in the Olympics for Los Angeles, “the IOC needs to have a partner International Federation ... by early 2025,” it said. The IOC didn’t name any candidates, but the likeliest might be World Boxing, a breakaway body backed by officials in the United States and Britain.