In a bid to secure recognition from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the World Boxing reached a milestone of 60 members on Friday.
The new world governing body was formed in April after the International Boxing Association (IBA) was stripped of its status in June 2023, after being initially suspended in 2019.
It secured support from five new national boxing federations — Cambodia, Dominican Republic, Jordan, Myanmar, and Palestine — on Thursday, after already securing the membership of heavyweights Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Japan and India.
“World Boxing has achieved an enormous amount in the last 12 months and to approach the end of the year with 60 members is a fantastic achievement and conclusive evidence of the widespread desire for change that exists in international boxing,” president of World Boxing, Boris van der Vorst said.
“The decision of so many national federations to join World Boxing is a sign of the critical importance of remaining part of the Olympic movement to the future health and stability of our sport and a recognition that this can only be achieved by countries joining and supporting World Boxing.”
The five new members have completed a rigorous application process to join World Boxing.
“They are deemed to be in good standing and, through their statutes and operating processes, are able to demonstrate: a transparent and open election process; the existence and operation of WADA-recognised anti-doping polices and processes; a structured, dispute resolution and appeals process; a solid national and international boxing sports programme; and formal recognition by either their National Olympic Committee (NOC) or Ministry for Sport,” the World Boxing said.
The World Boxing held its first formal meeting with the IOC on May 7, 2024, signalling the start of formal collaboration aimed at establishing a pathway for boxing to remain in the Olympic Games.
On September 26 2024, World Boxing announced that it had set up an Olympic Commission, chaired by the President of the National Olympic Committee of Kazakhstan, to support and assist the process of developing a pathway to ensuring that boxing is restored Games.