Estonia joins new World Boxing organization
On Wednesday, it was announced that the Estonian Boxing Association (Eesti Poksiliit) is among six new members accepted to join World Boxing, the federation which emerged following a breakdown in relations between the International Olympic Committe (IOC) and the Russian-led International Boxing Association (IBA).
At the end of January, the Estonian Boxing Federation confirmed that it had submitted an application to join the international organization World Boxing.
At that time, Kalle Klandorf, president of the Estonian Boxing Association, said at Estonian boxing wanted to continue in the Olympic movement and there was reason to believe, based on developments in recent years, that if boxing was to remain an Olympic sport, it would do so under the leadership of World Boxing.
On Wednesday, World Boxing confirmed that it had accepted six new members, taking its total to 78. Estonia joined along with Kosovo, Syria, Hungary, Malawi and Switzerland.
"This is a very significant milestone for World Boxing and I am delighted to welcome our six new members and thank them for their decision to join our mission to ensure that boxing remains part of the Olympic Movement. It is a particular pleasure to welcome Hungary as our 75th member, as this means that World Boxing has met one of the widely recognized criteria for a sport to be included in the Olympic Games," said World Boxing President Boris van der Vorst
The International Boxing Association (IBA) lost its recognition from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the right to organize Olympic tournaments in 2019, after which the IOC took over the organization itself.
In addition, in 2023, the IBA became the first federation to be expelled from the Olympic competition.
World Boxing was formed in response to the breakdown in relations between the IOC and the Russian-led International Boxing Association (IBA) over governance and integrity problems in the latter.
The IOC previously announced that it will no longer organize Olympic boxing and that, in the worst case scenario, a sport with a long and distinguished history could have been excluded from the Olympic Games altogether as a result. The IOC will elect a new president in March, with the future of Olympic boxing largely depending on what happens as a result of that decision.
The next summer Olympics will take place in L.A, California in 2028.
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Editor: Kristjan Kallaste, Michael Cole
