Thai boxing working to be Olympic
Do you want to see Thai boxing at the Olympics ? Thailand would be very proud and honored. The International Federation of Muaythai Amateur (IFMA) is working on it. Because if the Thai boxing becomes an Olympic sport like for other types of boxing, only ammateurs will be allowed to participate.
Thai boxing ants to be an Olympic sport, but the process will be very long …
To be included in the Olympics, a sport first must be recognized by an international sport federation and by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It is only after that it can apply to become an Olympic sport. IFMA has made ​​a request in June for Muay Thai to recognized by IOC. But the request was rejected, another attempt is scheduled for December. The Olympic Committee has found that efforts on one of the most important values of Olympism, the integrity of the sport, were not convincing enough. So why cycling and its numerous doping cases over the last 15 years is still part of every summer Olympics Games ? Nevermind. There were other reasons to justify this refusal: the lack of a proper judging system, safety issues, conflicts of interest and insufficient opportunities for women. Another obstacle in this Olympic quest is an ongoing conflict between IFMA and a rival organization, the World Muaythai Federation (WMF) which claims to be the lead representative of Muay Thai in the world. So the verdict of the new request in December will probably be rejected too. There is a lot of work and many things to reform before we have a real chance to see Muay Thai athletes with five rings medals around their neck. “We will not see Muay Thai in the Olympics in a near future. It is a long process and Ifma must work harder” said its president who recognizes half word the probable failure of the application for recognition by the IOC in December.
The iconic sport of Thailand is increasingly practiced around the world but fans will have to wait many years before it may becoms an Olympic sport. But the process has started…
