The World Boxing Association has elected its first president. It could be a step back into the Olympic family
The World Boxing Association has elected Dutchman Boris van der Vorst as its first president – taking a step towards possible recognition by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). In addition to the election of the 51-year-old at the founding congress in Frankfurt am Main, a constitution was adopted and an executive council elected on Saturday.
World Boxing was founded in April by several national boxing associations in order to secure the Olympic future of the sport as a counter-movement to the discredited umbrella organization IBA. The members of World Boxing include the German Boxing Association (DBV) and the federations of the USA and Great Britain.
The IBA was initially counted out by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2019 due to a lack of transparency and integrity, and last summer the ring organization finally withdrew recognition from the association led by Russian Umar Kremlev. A measure that was challenged by the IBA before the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) last week. A verdict is still pending.
The boxing competitions at the 2021 Summer Games in Tokyo were already organized by a task force appointed by the IOC, and this procedure will be repeated in Paris next year. It remains to be seen whether boxing will be part of the 2028 Summer Games program in Los Angeles. At its session in Mumbai in October, the IOC pointed out that no world boxing federation is currently recognized. World Boxing wants to change this
