Costa Navarino (Greece), Mar 20: Boxing has been included in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games (LA28) sports programme after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) unanimously voted for the move during the 144th Session meeting on Thursday.

This decision came after the proposal from the IOC Executive Board (EB), following the recommendation from the Olympic Programme Commission, and the provisional recognition of World Boxing as the International Federation (IF) within the Olympic Movement governing the sport of boxing at the world level.

"I thank you for the approval of having boxing back in the Olympic programme. We can look forward to a great boxing tournament," IOC president Thomas Bach said.

Boxing was not included in the LA28 initial sports programme approved by the IOC Session in February 2022, because of the then-ongoing concerns around the then-IF for boxing, the International Boxing Association (IBA). Following the withdrawal of the IBA’s recognition on June 22, 2023, the inclusion of boxing in the LA28 sports programme remained on hold.

The IOC granted World Boxing recognition as boxing's new governing body last month, a move that cleared the path for boxing to be included in the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028.

At the most recent Olympic Games, in Paris, the boxing competition and its qualifying tournaments were organised under the authority of the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit, an ad hoc task force created by the IOC EB following the withdrawal of recognition of the IBA to protect athlete participation at Paris 2024 and deliver a clear, fair and transparent pathway for boxers to qualify.

Boxing was first included in the modern Olympic Games in 1904, and has been part of every edition since then except for Stockholm 1912, due to a local law banning the sport at the time.

(IANS)

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