[In a push to get in position to run Olympic boxing in 2028 -- should boxing be a part of the next Olympics--  World Boxing will hold an "Extraordinary Congress" on March 1at to enable members to formally approve a series of new applications from boxing national federations that want to join the international federation. At present, an additional 17 national federations have had their membership applications approved by the Executive Board of World Boxing since the Congress in November 2024, and that number is expected to rise by the time of the Extraordinary Congress.

 

The Extraordinary Congress will be held virtually and overseen by independent, third-party assessors. The 55 national federations that were confirmed as members of World Boxing as of November 3, 2024 will be eligible to participate in the Extraordinary Congress and vote on the new membership applications that have been received since then.

 

The decision to hold an Extraordinary Congress reflects the status of Congress as the highest decision-making body of World Boxing and aims to ensure that all membership applications have been approved by Congress as well as the Executive Board in advance of the forthcoming IOC Session (March 19-21).

 

Boris van der Vorst, president of World Boxing, said: “World Boxing is committed to upholding the highest standards of governance and transparency, so the Executive Board has decided to hold this Extraordinary Congress to ensure that there is no ambiguity about the number of National Federations that are confirmed members of World Boxing, when the IOC comes to meet at its next Session in March. “Congress is the highest authority of World Boxing and by ensuring that every application has been assessed and voted on by Congress, we can be unequivocally clear about the precise size and composition of our membership.”

 

World Boxing was launched in April 2023 and is committed to ensuring that boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic movement. 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, Gennadiy Golovkin, to support and assist the process of developing a pathway to ensuring that boxing is restored to the Games.