A record 105 countries are sending a total of 532 boxers to Baku, Azerbaijan to participate in the AIBA Youth World Championships this year, for the first and only qualifying tournament for the Youth Olympic Games.

The registered boxers, aged 17- and 18-years old, will participate in the Championships from April 23rd to May 1st. At the last Youth World Championships in Guadalajara, Mexico in 2007, 60 countries attended and none were from Africa. This year 16 countries from Africa will be participating, demonstrating the fruits of AIBA's development work for boxing. Out of the 105 countries participating in total this year, 28 will be sending boxers to the Road to Baku.

The Road to Baku program is a training camp and development initiative funded by the AIBA Grant Program that pays for all travel and accommodation expenses for boxers and coaches to attend the training camp and the World Championships.

Thirteen countries applied three to four days late and their applications were kept on hold until the host country was able to confirm that they could accommodate the extra boxers. The National Federations who were delayed in getting their applications to AIBA have committed to ensure no further delays with the processing of their information.

"This record number of participants shows the confidence that National Federations have in AIBA's fair and transparent judging as has been demonstrated since AIBA introduced sweeping reforms," said AIBA President Dr Ching-Kuo Wu. "I wish all the participants the very best of luck."

Click here to download the list in PDF.

Copyright © AIBA 2010 http://www.aiba.org