THE Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) has officially requested approval from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for the inclusion of Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
POC President Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino confirmed that the appeal was submitted to the IOC, following the conclusion of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
“We just emailed the IOC on that issue, inquiring whether he can compete for one of the universality slots,” Tolentino said.
These universality places are designated for athletes from nations that face challenges in securing Olympic slots through conventional qualification routes. For boxing, the IOC has allocated nine slots, with five for women and four for men.
However, the age limit for Olympic qualifiers set by the Paris boxing unit is currently 19 to 40 years old, which poses a potential obstacle to Pacquiao’s bid at 44 years old.
Marcus Manalo, the Secretary-General of the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines, mentioned the possibility of challenging the reasoning behind the age limit, considering that Pacquiao might be in better physical condition than younger boxers.
Manny Pacquiao, who has achieved a remarkable feat of winning titles in eight different weight divisions, officially retired from professional boxing in September 2021. He had previously expressed his intention to participate only in exhibition matches after his retirement, but his potential involvement in the Olympics has raised new possibilities. (ai/mnm)
