The decision regarding the continuity of boxing at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics will be made in 2025, stated Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The controversy arises because the International Boxing Association (IBA) is disaffiliated from the IOC and the IOC organized boxing in Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024. IBA, led by a Russian who has been accused of corruption on several occasions, disqualified the Algerian boxer Imane Khelif and the Taiwanese Lin Yu-ting last year, both of whom have excelled at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games but are also surrounded by controversy due to doubts about their gender and alleged high levels of testosterone.
Algerian Khelif won the gold medal in the 66-kilogram category on Saturday.
Boxing competition at the Paris Olympics sparked controversy
The boxing competition at the Paris Olympic Games is under the responsibility of the IOC, as last year the International Boxing Association wanted to implement reforms in governance and finances.
But the IOC has not yet included the sport in the Los Angeles 2028 program and has asked different organizations to create a new world boxing federation or, unfortunately, boxing would not be in the Olympic Games in four years.
"During the course of next year, as soon as possible. But we cannot wait beyond the end of next year," said Bach when asked when the IOC will decide on whether to include this sport in LA.
The International Olympic Committee has decided that it will not organize this competition in the upcoming Olympic Games, which will be held in Los Angeles.
Scandal with the International Boxing Association
The IOC suspended the IBA in 2019 due to lack of ethics, distrust in arbitration, and governance issues. The association accused Algerian boxer Imane Khelif and Taiwanese Lin Yu-ting of having a "testosterone level higher than the average level of women" and they were disqualified from the World Championship.
However, they never showed evidence or provided details of the analysis that was carried out to reach these results.
That decision by the IBA sparked controversy over the participation of Khelif and Lin in these Olympic Games, triggering messages of hatred and false accusations worldwide, even from people like Donald Trump and Elon Musk.