New boxing governing body adds 6 more members in quest to get Olympic approval
By GREG BEACHAM
AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Six more national boxing federations have joined a new organization seeking to replace the embattled International Boxing Association as the sport’s governing body at the Olympic level.
The federations representing Germany, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Honduras and Sweden announced their affiliation with World Boxing on Thursday, giving the group 12 members. The federations of the U.S., Britain, England, Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands formally founded the group in April.
World Boxing is attempting to gather enough support and credibility to replace the IBA, which was stripped of Olympic recognition by the International Olympic Committee in June. The IBA and its Russian president, Umar Kremlev, have been at odds with the IOC for years.
The IOC suspended the IBA, then known as AIBA, back in 2019 over concerns about its finances, governance and competition credibility. The IOC appointed a task force to run the boxing competition at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, and a similar task force will run the competition in Paris next year.
World Boxing said its 12 members have agreed to several standards of conduct, including transparent elections for their leadership, the adoption of prominent anti-doping standards and formal recognition by their own nations’ Olympic committees.
World Boxing will hold its inaugural Congress in November, said Simon Toulson, the group’s Secretary General.
“Becoming a member takes time, as it is a detailed and meticulous process to ensure that a national federation is suitable for our organization,” Toulson added. “We are receiving more and more interest and requests from national federations and boxing organizations to join World Boxing on a weekly basis and currently have a number of applications from those wanting to join or going through the membership application process,”
The IBA has remained defiant since it was suspended from recognition four years ago, claiming serious flaws in the IOC’s evaluation of its operations.
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