Manny Pacquiao’s Paris 2024 Olympic boxing dream dashed after IOC refuse to change age rule

Manny Pacquiao will not be able to compete at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games due to an age limit regulation.

The 45-year-old was hoping to compete at the upcoming Olympics, but exceeds the age limit for the boxing tournament at the Games by five years.

Olympic officials in the Philippines were hopeful the regulations would be changed for Pacquiao, but they reportedly have been told by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that the current rules will be upheld.

The age limit for the Olympic boxing tournament had been raised to 40 from 34 in 2013, which would have allowed Pacquiao to fight at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

But the former eight-division world champion, who announced his retirement in September 2021, chose not to compete in Rio after being elected as a senator in the Philippines.

The IOC is currently organising the Olympic boxing tournament after withdrawing recognition of the International Boxing Association, the sport’s previous governing body.

There will be seven men’s weight classes and six women’s weight classes at Paris 2024, with preliminary rounds taking place at Arena Paris Nord and medal bouts held at Stade Roland Garros.

Qualifying is still ongoing, and even if Pacquaio had been eligible to fight, it is likely he would have needed to compete in one of the two qualification tournaments in the coming months.

The Philippine Olympic Committee had been considering applying for a universality entry to Paris 2024, which allows countries that have few athletes at the Olympics to compete without going through qualifying.

But the IOC has rejected this on the grounds that the Philippines have already enjoyed significant success at the Olympics.

“Universality places are not allocated to [teams] with an average of more than eight athletes in individual sports/disciplines at the last two editions of the Olympic Games,” the IOC said. “This is the case for the Philippine Olympic Committee.”