Boxing gloves are seen inside the community boxing gym above the Kellingley Social Club in Knottingley, Britain August 1, 2018. Picture taken August 1, 2018. REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo
LONDON (Reuters) - GB Boxing will seek associate membership of World Boxing, a new rival to the Russian-led International Boxing Association (IBA), as the divided sport fights for its Olympic future, it said on Tuesday.
GB Boxing delivers the United Kingdom's publicly-funded World Class Programme but is not a national governing body as England, Wales and Scotland have their own separate ones.
Associate membership does not carry voting rights but will allow representatives of GB Boxing to hold offices within World Boxing.
The new body's interim executive board features representatives from Germany, Britain, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, Sweden and the United States.
"It is vitally important to the future of the sport in the UK and across the globe that boxing remains part of the Olympic programme," said GB Boxing chair Jason Glover in a statement.
"The loss of Olympic status would have devastating consequences for boxers and everyone connected with the sport ... and we are committed to supporting World Boxing in its efforts to keep boxing at the heart of the Olympic Movement.
"GB Boxing has played a significant role in helping to establish World Boxing and the decision to apply for associate membership is a sign of our long-term commitment to the new organisation and a desire on our behalf to play a part in its future development."
The International Olympic Committee's Executive Board will meet on Wednesday to discuss the state of reforms by the IBA with the sport's Olympic future in the balance.
The IOC suspended the IBA in 2019 over governance, finance, refereeing and ethical issues and did not involve it in running the boxing events at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
It has provisionally excluded the sport from the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics and has demanded immediate reforms but has warned repeatedly that the IBA was not doing enough.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ken Ferris)
