LAUSANNE, June 23, 2023 – The International Boxing Association (IBA), on June 22, became the first governing body to be expelled by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in its 129-year history, however the sport will keep its Olympic status at Paris 2024, with the IOC in charge of its competitions starting from the qualifiers, which has begun today at the European Games in Poland. 

IOC TAKES CHARGE AGAIN It was a year ago, on June 24, 2022 that the IOC Executive Board ruled that the IBA was not in a position to organise the qualifying events and boxing competitions for Paris 2024, and just like the IOC created a special Task Force for Tokyo 2020, a Paris 2024 Boxing Unit came into force. Until its expulsion from the Olympic Movement, IBA, formerly known by its French acronym AIBA, had been on suspension since 2019. 

QUALIFICATION SYSTEM The IOC EB in September 2022 approved the new boxing qualification system for Paris 2024, which the Olympic body said it designed in close collaboration with boxing experts. “The new Olympic qualification process puts boxers first, lowering the complexity of the qualification process by using existing regional events and giving up to three qualification opportunities, ultimately achieving a fair and equal pathway for all boxers,” the IOC said. 

MULTISPORT EVENTS Continental multisport events organised by regional Olympic committees were selected to double as Olympic boxing qualification tournaments and where this was not the case, like in Africa, a standalone qualification tournament will be organised. Then two world qualification tournaments planned for 2024 will follow the continental phase of the quota place allocation. 

EUROPEAN GAMES 2023 At the ongoing Kraków-Małopolska 2023 European Games, boxing is seen a “one of the most prestigious disciplines” because 44 Paris 2024 spots are on offer alongside thirteen sets of medals. 

The competition has begun today, Friday, June 23, and will last until July 2 with 350 boxers fighting for glory and a ticket to Paris in the 3,000-capacity Nowy Targ Arena. In the programme of the Olympic Games, as well as the III European Games, fights will be held in seven men’s and six women’s weight categories. 

OTHER REGIONAL TOURNAMENTS The next regional tournament will be the African Olympic Qualification Tournament from September 9-15 in Dakar, Senegal. Then the Asian Games taking place from September 23 to October 8 in Hangzhou, China, followed by the Pan American Games from October 20 to November 5 in Santiago, Chile and the Pacific Games scheduled for November 27 to December 2 in Honiara, Solomon Islands. 

EVENT REGULATIONS In April, the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit (PBU) published the “Event Regulations of the Olympic Boxing Qualifying Tournaments and the boxing competition at the Olympic Games Paris 2024” (Paris 2024 Event Regulations). 

“For the avoidance of doubt, these regulations are applicable only to the competitions under the authority of the PBU, namely the Olympic Games Paris 2024 and its qualification tournaments. To achieve consistency between Olympic Games, the Tokyo 2020 Event Regulations serve as the basis for these Paris 2024 Event Regulations, complemented with specific amendments only as and where necessary to further increase transparency, fairness and credibility, while limiting their impact on the actual sport practice for the Boxers.” 

PARIS 2024 QUOTAS There is a total of 248 quotas for boxing at Paris 2024, evenly split between men and women. All there is to know about the qualification system is in this 9-page document, which was distributed to NOCs and Boxing National Federations on 6 December 2022. Boxing events will take place between the 27th of July and the 10th of August.