STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- A modified version of professional boxing was approved by a sports commission on Wednesday, ending a 36-year ban on pro fights in Sweden.

A boxing event in Goteborg in January featuring former WBO titleholder Armand Krajnc and Sweden's top female boxer, Asa Sandell, was given the go-ahead.

Organizers sought permission after altering the rules to make them similar to amateur boxing -- which is allowed in Sweden -- with fewer rounds and allowing doctors to stop the match.

However, the commission turned down a request by German promoter Sauerland Event to organize a WBA heavyweight title fight with champion Nikolai Valuev in Stockholm in January. It was to be fought under the WBA's regular rules, so the commission said the boxers' safety could not be guaranteed.

Pro boxing was banned in Sweden in 1970 after a study found that it involved severe and even life-threatening injuries, had a brutalizing effect on the audience and was governed by unsound economic interests.

The law will be altered at the end of this year to allow for individual events, but Wednesday's decision indicates that fully fledged professional boxing will remain banned in Sweden.

Krajnc, who has been a longtime critic of the ban, was forced to fight all his title bouts abroad -- including against fellow Swede Paolo Roberto in 2001. He will return to the ring for the first time in more than two years.