LAUSANNE : The International Olympic Committee Executive Board  or IOC has approved a new boxing qualification system for the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024, making the regional multi-sports events such as the Asian Games, European Games Pan-Am Games, as qualification events.

Due to various concerns raised by the Board, boxing has not been currently included in the sports programme for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028.

At its meeting on Thursday, the IOC Executive Board (EB) approved a new qualification model after denying the International Boxing Association (IBA) the opportunity to stage boxing qualification contests and events in Paris in 2024.

The National Olympic Committee (NOC) regional multisport events are used as Olympic boxing qualification tournaments under the new qualification system, which was developed by the IOC in close consultation with experts in the sport, the ICO said in an online press conference after the EB meeting on Thursday.

The responsibility for the boxing competitions in the events will thus not lay with the IBA, and alternative arrangements will be put in place with the respective event organisers as the qualification events will be a part of the multi-sport event, IOC said.

The Pan-American Games in Santiago, Chile in 2023, the European Games in Krakow, Poland in 2023, the Pacific Games in Honiara, Fiji (2023), and the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China in 2023 will all serve as qualifying events for the boxing contests in Paris, France, in 2024. A similar multisport event for Africa will be announced after consultation with ANOCA, the IOC said on Thursday.

Two world qualification tournaments are scheduled to be conducted in 2024, offering boxers from all regions the chance to compete for spots in Paris after the Continental round of quota place allocation.

The IOC EB reported receiving an updated report on the IBA's efforts to address the issues the IOC raised when denying it the right to organise the Paris 2024 competition. Although some difficulties have been overcome, it was stated that there are still significant concerns with relation to governance, the financial model, and judging and referring in international events.

It stated that IBA appears to have further diminished its efficacy and is consolidating authority in the presidential office in Moscow rather than establishing a capable administrative office in Lausanne. It said there are still real worries about the IBA's financial reliance on a State-owned Russian oil company and that it has been difficult for the organisation to recruit new sponsors.

"The IOC EB today received a report on the concerns raised by outside experts at the recent Commonwealth Games in Birmingham's boxing tournament regarding competition management, refereeing, and judging procedures.

The IOC stated in a release that it had "also highlighted that no obvious attempts have been made by the IBA to respect and completely implement the roadmap laid forth by the IOC EB in December 2021 with relation to the IBA's governance."

As a result, IBA's suspension will remain, and soon the IOC will advise IBA in writing of its continued severe concern. The national boxing federations and NOCs will receive this mail.