IT is unclear if the sport of boxing would be contested in the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California in the United States.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) executive board said they decided to withdraw the International Boxing Association (IBA) during their recent IOC Session in Mumbai, India.
"Following the IOC Session's decision to withdraw the recognition of the International Boxing Association (IBA), the IOC has not recognized another governing body for Olympic boxing," a statement on Friday read. "Therefore, any decision regarding the inclusion of boxing on the LA28 sports program is put on hold."
This could leave an uncertainty to Philippine boxers, who are known to have medalled at the sport in the Olympics.
Jose Villanueva was the country's first boxing medalist, by winning bronze at the 1932 Summer Olympics, which was also in Los Angeles.
Other medalists included Anthony Villanueva who won a silver in Tokyo 1964; Leopoldo Serantes, who was a bronze medalist in Seoul 1988 and the Velasco brothers, Roel and Onyok, who won a bronze and silver medal in Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996, respectively.
At the recent 2020 Tokyo Olympics held in 2021, Nesthy Petecio gave the Philippines its first boxing silver medal in the women's division, by placing second in the featherweight division.
Carlo Paalam also won a silver medal in the flyweight division, while Eumir Marcial got the bronze medal in the middleweight division.
Marcial has already qualified for the upcoming Olympics in Paris, France, after his silver-medal performance at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
Weightlifting and modern pentathlon are included in the 2028 Olympic program, alongside two new sports and several returning sports, including baseball and softball, lacrosse and cricket.
Lacrosse was last contested in 1908, while cricket was last played in 1900. New sports included flag football and squash, which is a sport in the Asian Games program.