The International Olympic Committee has urged the creation of a new governing body to secure the future of boxing at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 and beyond. 

The IOC’s sports director, Kit McConnell, has urged the creation of a new governing arm of the amateur code, suggesting that the sport’s Olympic future is at risk without one.

“We will not be able to include boxing in the LA2028 program without a new body working in partnership with the IOC,” McConnell said at a press conference on Tuesday at the IOC’s headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.

In April 2023, the International Boxing Association, or IBA (formerly known as AIBA), was removed from the IOC’s list of affiliated associations. The IOC cited the IBA’s governance, finances and overall transparency issues as reasons for the decision, following the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 

In 2019, the IOC provisionally suspended the IBA from administering tournaments linked directly to the IOC, such as the Olympic qualifiers and the Olympic tournament in Tokyo.

At the COVID-delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the IOC administered the tournament and qualifying events. The organization will perform the same duties for the upcoming Paris Games this summer. 

McConnell reaffirmed the IOC’s decision to remove the IBA from the list of associations, insisting it will not be allowed to return to the IOC’s umbrella.

“The International Boxing Association will not be involved in any way if boxing is part of the LA28 Olympic Games,” McConnell said. “Unless we have a new boxing body working in partnership with the IOC, we will not be able to have boxing in the LA28 program.”

World Boxing, formed in April 2023, currently aims to be an IOC-affiliated organization in a bid to safeguard boxing’s future at the Olympics and take over administration of the sport’s amateur code. 

World Boxing responded to the IOC’s rallying call by urging the IOC to engage in discussions to develop a pathway in which the two organizations can work together to protect and develop amateur boxing. 

“The comments made by the IOC send a clear message to boxing national federations that they must join and support a new international federation immediately if boxing is to remain on the Olympic [program],” World Boxing said in a statement.

“World Boxing will seek recognition [from the IOC].

“Should [the IOC] choose to engage with us, we are committed to working constructively and collaboratively with national federations and all stakeholders to develop a pathway that will preserve boxing’s place on the Olympic programme at Los Angeles 2028 and beyond.”