The IOC temporarily recognizes World Boxing as a new Olympic Boxing Association – and thus also ensures that the DBV is relieved.
Breathe in the amateur boxing and at DBV: After years of tumbling, the Olympic future of the sport seems to be secured. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) recognized the new Amateur World Boxing “for the time being as an international association within the Olympic movement” on Wednesday, as the rings organization announced.
The KO seems to be averted, and the German boxing association can also look positively into the future.
“This is a milestone. All the efforts were worth it,” said DBV President Jens Hadler in the “Sid” conversation: “That brings calm and planning security.”
After the exclusion of the International Boxing Association (IBA) in June 2023, boxing without the Olympic World Association had been there, for Los Angeles 2028 one of the oldest sports at the games had already flown out of the program. With World Boxing, the IOC has now found the “reliable partner” that IOC President Thomas Bach had asked for the securing of the Olympic future until “early in 2025”.
World Boxing now belongs to 78 national associations from five continents, the DBV is a founding member. The world association was launched in 2023 against the background of the conflict between the IBA and the IOC. The IOC suspended the IBA in 2019 that was guided by Russia for serious misconduct and excluded in June 2023.
In the case of Olympic outside, “boxing is dead”
After the IBA was excluded, the Olympic boxing tournament in Tokyo in 2021 and 2024 in Paris from the IOC itself. Formers and athletes were concerned. “If boxes don’t stay Olympic, boxing is dead,” said German bronze medalist Nelvie Tiafack in Paris.
Now the preliminary recognition of World Boxing “gives the athletes a good feeling. Most of the way has gone,” says Hadler, who expects a further influx of national associations.
Bach had made it clear in Paris that boxes in Los Angeles will only be in the Olympic program if there was a reliable partner: “Now the national boxing associations have to make their choice. It is up to them.” And the IOC was very satisfied with the development of World Boxing.
In its reasoning, the IOC stated that from a sporting point of view “proved that 62 percent of boxers and 58 percent of boxing medalists belong to the Paris 2024 national associations that are members of World Boxing”.
In addition, the association uses the “procedure to maintain sporting integrity” and have created the “structure and documentation for good corporate management”. World Boxing also “applied successfully about the status of a signatories of the world anti-doping code,” said the IOC.