As part of anti-doping measures, the International Boxing Association renews its collaboration with ITA

The International Boxing Association (IBA) has extended its three-year relationship with the International Testing Agency, which will include drug testing in competition, long-term sample storage, and investigations, among other things.

After the 2016 Rio Olympics, the IBA and ITA signed their first agreement.

"The agreement includes IBA outsourcing all anti-doping activities to the ITA, including testing, intelligence gathering, test distribution planning, education and Therapeutic Use Exemption handling, as well as result management and the handling of anti-doping rule violations," the IBA said in a statement.

"The full scope of the new agreement now also covers in-competition testing, long-term sample storage, intelligence and investigations…in strict adherence to the World Anti-Doping Code and the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA's) International Standards," it added.

The move is part of the IBA's efforts to reclaim its IOC affiliation, which was banned in 2019 due to financial irregularities and administrative difficulties.

"It is our duty to protect our athletes and reinforce the values of clean sport in boxing. Continuing our work with the ITA will ensure we do exactly that," said IBA President Umar Kremlev.

Benjamin Cohen, ITA Director General added, "By entrusting the full range of its anti-doping programme to us at the ITA, we hope in turn that we can enable IBA to focus fully on its core mission of developing boxing, in a transparent manner, worthy of wider trust.

"We look forward to continuing to provide IBA and boxers with our expertise and are fully committed to supporting IBA in its fight against doping." The IBA is following the IOC's path for readmission in 2023. The World Boxing Championships will be one of the events covered by the restored ITA relationship.

Boxing has made it onto the tentative Olympic roster for the 2024 Paris Games, but has been dropped from the 2028 Games. Its future is dependent on the good governance plan that the IOC wants the organisation to follow.

As suggested by an independent governance assessment, the IBA recently announced a restructuring of its administrative structure and vowed to hold elections by the end of June this year.