The Governing body of World boxing adds weight to Olympic bid with announcement of six new members.
World Boxing has added weight to its bid to achieve recognition from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) by announcing six new members.
The breakaway governing body, which is trying to keep boxing in the Olympics, launched in April.
It wants to replace the International Boxing Association (IBA) following its suspension by the IOC in 2019.
New members include federations from Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Honduras and Sweden.
“World Boxing continues to attract high calibre national federations that want to emulate our principles and endorse our policies to put the boxers first and operate with rigorous governance practices,” said the federation’s chief Simon Toulson.
“We are receiving more and more interest and requests from National Federations and boxing organisations to join World Boxing on a weekly basis.”
World Boxing was established in response to the persistent issues surrounding former IOC-recognised governing body the IBA, which was banned amid governance issues and alleged corruption.
The suspension left boxing’s future as an Olympic sport in jeopardy.
World Boxing attracted numerous federations following its formation, including GB Boxing, England Boxing, New Zealand Boxing, Boxing Australia, the Dutch Boxing Federation and USA Boxing.
The sport will take place at the Paris 2024 Olympics but it has been left off the initial programme for Los Angeles 2028.
BBC/Jamiu Ogunshe
