WBA is an international boxing organization that sanctions official matches, and awards the WBA world championship title at the professional level. Founded in the United States in 1921 by thirteen state representatives as the National Boxing Association, in 1962, it changed its name in recognition of boxing's growing popularity worldwide, and began to gain other nations as members. Gilberto Mendoza from Venezuela has been the President of the WBA since 1982. In January 2007, it returned its headquarters offices to Panama after being located during the 1990s and early 2000s in Venezuela.