The International Boxing Association has still yet to announce the list of professional boxers that will compete at the WSB/APB Olympic Qualification Tournament in Vargas, even though the event is due to start on Sunday (July 3) ©AIBA

The International Boxing Association (AIBA) has still yet to announce the list of professional boxers that will compete at the World Series of Boxing (WSB)/AIBA Pro Boxing (APB) Olympic Qualification Tournament in Vargas, despite the event being due to start in just two days' time.

Following a historic ruling, passed unanimously at AIBA’s Extraordinary Congress in Lausanne on June 1, National Federations will be able to register all non-AIBA professional boxers for the tournament according to the criteria for registration of professional boxers.

An AIBA spokesman told insidethegames last month that the names of boxers competing would be announced by the international governing body on June 23, which was the closing date for entries.

It has now been confirmed, however, that the definite list won’t be announced until after tomorrow’s draw in the Venezuelan state, where 26 quota places for this year’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro will be up for grabs over six days of competition. 

The decision to grant professionals the opportunity to compete at the Olympics has been heavily criticised, with possible safety risks due to mismatches between professional and less-experienced amateurs among the concerns.

The World Boxing Council (WBC) has warned that professional fighters ranked in the top 15 of its standings face a two-year ban if they compete at Rio 2016.

GB Boxing turned down a request from British professional boxer Chris Eubank Jr to compete at Rio 2016 ©Getty Images
GB Boxing turned down a request from British professional boxer Chris Eubank Jr to compete at Rio 2016 ©Getty Images

Earlier this month, the Mexican Boxing Federation confirmed that its professional fighters will not participate at Rio 2016.

It came after the national governing body received only two requests from professional boxers to sign up for the WSB/APB Olympic Qualification Tournament.

Middleweight Marco "Dorado" Reyes was the only one to fulfil the requirements, but then decided to retire his petition at the end of the process, citing the threat of being banned for two years by the WBC as his reason.

The International Boxing Federation announced last month that they will strip boxers of their titles should they compete at the Games and they could also be removed from their rankings.

Professionals from the United States will not be given the opportunity to compete at Rio 2016 with USA Boxing having already confirmed they would not change its already-selected team.

It is expected that other bodies will adopt the same policy, with GB Boxing having turned down a request from British professional boxer Chris Eubank Jr to compete at the Games.