Boxing Federation of India joins World Boxing

The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) is now a member of World Boxing, an international federation established to ensure that the sport remains in the Olympic movement.

India’s inclusion in World Boxing is due to the decision taken by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that if any country wishes to take part in the Olympics, post the 2024 Paris Olympics, they should be a member of World Boxing.

The Indian federation is now a part of the now-suspended International Boxing Association (IBA). The IBA was de-recognised in 2019 over several irregularities, including financial, sports integrity and governance issues.

Boxing at the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics will be overseen by the IOC.

World Boxing was launched in April 2023 and on May 7, 2024, the international federation held its first formal meeting with the IOC. The meeting signalled the start of a formal collaboration between the two organisations, aimed at establishing a pathway for boxing to remain at the Olympic Games.

World Boxing currently has members covering all five continents that compete in international boxing.

India’s membership application was approved by the General Body Meeting of the BFI and will next be passed and ratified by the Executive Board of World Boxing.

Incidentally, BFI is one of the largest national federations in Asia. India’s role in BFI would also be to establish an Asian Confederation and drive recruitment of other federations in the Asian region.

India will also actively participate in the work of World Boxing Committees and all commissions, as well as bid to host World Boxing competitions. The BFI’s role in World Boxing will also be to support the international federation’s efforts to secure new commercial partnerships and generate new income streams.

Boris van der Vorst, president of World Boxing, in a media statement, said they are looking forward to welcoming India into the fold. “India is a very important country in international boxing and we look forward to welcoming the BFI into the growing World Boxing family. This is a very exciting development which will significantly increase our presence in Asia and I look forward to working closely with the BFI in delivering our common goals,” he said.

Vorst added that IOC’s stance of including every boxing federation in the World Boxing purview gives the sport the much needed thrust to move forward. “In both its public comments and during our recent meeting, the IOC has delivered a clear message to all National Federations that if they want boxers from their country to have the opportunity to compete at future Olympic Games then they must now join World Boxing. This is the only path that will see our sport remain in the Olympic Games after Paris 2024 and National Federations must act now and follow the example of the BFI if they want boxing to have any chance of still being part of the programme at Los Angeles 2028,” he added in the statement.

The BFI president Ajay Singh said they are delighted to join World Boxing. “It is absolutely vital to the sustainability of boxing that it retains its Olympics status, so we are delighted to join World Boxing and look forward to working closely with the Executive Board and our fellow members to shape the future development of the sport and deliver a brighter future for boxers across the world,” he said, in a statement.