The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has decided not to alter its rules regarding age limits, effectively preventing boxing legend Manny Pacquiao from competing in the Paris Games.

Pacquiao, who retired in 2021, expressed interest in participating at 45, with the boxing events scheduled to take place at the Roland Garros tennis complex.

The IOC confirmed on Sunday that it had informed Philippine Olympic officials that the age limit for boxers, set at 40, would remain in place.

Following the IOC's decision to derecognize the International Boxing Association as the governing body for Olympic boxing, the IOC now directly oversees the sport.

The age limit for Olympic boxing was raised from 34 to 40 in 2013, a change that would have allowed Pacquiao to compete in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

However, he opted not to pursue Olympic participation then, as he had also been elected as a senator in the Philippines.

It is unclear if Pacquiao would have tried to earn a place at the Paris Olympics in one of two qualification tournaments that open later this month in Italy and in May in Thailand.

The Philippines Olympic body had talked of trying to get a so-called "universality" entry to the Paris Summer Games. These are effectively free passes to events given to countries that have few athletes at the Olympics and typically struggle to qualify on merit.

However, the IOC explained Sunday that the Philippines had been too successful to benefit from the scheme.

"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."

Pacquiao ended his storied career in September 2021 at age 42 after 72 fights, winning 12 world titles at a record eight different weight divisions.