Boxing will remain an Olympic sport after the International Olympic Committee unanimously voted for it to be included in the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

The sport was not part of the programme for the next Olympics when the schedule was first announced in 2022.

But the IOC granted provisional recognition for World Boxing as the sport?s global body last month before voting for its inclusion at the ongoing session in Greece.

?I thank you for the approval of having boxing back. We can look forward to a great boxing tournament,? outgoing IOC president Thomas Bach said.

Boxing has featured at every Olympics since 1904, except 1912, but the IOC has run the sport at the past two Games after the International Boxing Association (IBA) was suspended 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.

The IOC and the IBA clashed during last year?s Olympics in Paris over the participation of two boxers, Algeria?s Imane Khelif and Taiwan?s Lin Yu-ting.

The IBA banned the fighters during the 2023 World Championships saying they had failed gender eligibility tests, but the IOC allowed them to compete and both won gold medals in their weight classes.

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

?This is a great day for boxers, boxing and everyone connected with our sport at every level across the world,? said World Boxing president Boris van der Vorst.

?World Boxing understands that being part of the Olympic Games is a privilege and not a right and we are determined to be a trustworthy and reliable partner that will adhere to and uphold the values of the Olympic Movement.?

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

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

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