Boxing set for Olympic inclusion in 2028

Boxing has been at every Olympics since its debut in 1904 apart from in 1912

The International Olympic Committee executive board has recommended that boxing be included at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

The sport was not part of the initial programme when it was announced in 2022, but last month World Boxing was given provisional recognition as the sports international governing body.

The recommendation will still need to be approved by the IOC at this weeks session in Greece, but outgoing IOC president Thomas Bach expects it to be given the green light.

"After the provisional recognition of World Boxing in February we were in a position to take this decision," Bach said on Monday.

"This recommendation has to go to the session, but I am very confident they will approve it so that all the boxers of the world then have certainty they can participate in the Olympic Games in LA."

The creation of a new global body was the biggest hurdle to the sports inclusion in the next Games.

The IOC has run boxing at the past two Olympics after the International Boxing Association (IBA) was suspended as the sports world governing body in 2019 over governance, finance, refereeing and ethical issues.

The Russian-led IBA was then stripped of its status in June 2023 over a failure to implement reforms.

World Boxing was formed in April 2023 and now has 84 members across five continents, including Great Britain.

Last month the IOC said World Boxing met several key criteria for provisional recognition.

The IOC has said only athletes whose national federations were members of World Boxing by the time of the start of the qualification events for the 2028 Olympics could take part in Los Angeles.

The dates for the qualifying period are yet to be confirmed.