The United States, the Czech Republic, Ireland and Sweden have announced a boycott of the World Boxing Championship, which is to be held in India and Uzbekistan. The UK will not participate in the Women's World Cup in New Delhi. This decision was made due to the admission of Russian and Belarusian athletes to the tournament under the flags of their countries.
On February 8, the US Boxing Federation issued a statement on the organization's official website announcing the refusal of American teams to participate in the men's and women's world championships. The statement contains a number of reasons, but the main one is the decision of the International Boxing Association (IBA) to allow boxers from Russia and Belarus to compete under their national flags.
The head of USA Boxing, Mike McAtee, drew attention to the fact that at the last boxing tournament in Moroccan Marrakech, the Russians performed under their own flag and anthem.
He also claims that the IBA violates not only the sanctions of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), approved on February 2 but also the principles of fair play and transparency.
Following the United States, the Irish Boxing Federation also decided to refuse to participate in the men's and women's world championships due to the admission of Russian athletes under the flag of the country, the Irish Independent (IABA) reported. The IABA Board of Directors voted for the boycott of tournaments - 15 people were in favour, and 5 were against.
The head of the sports organization, Ryan O'Shea, said he had serious concerns about the future of the sport due to corruption in the IBA.
The UK will not compete in next month's Women's World Boxing Championships in India due to concerns over Russian athletes' participation under their national flag. The sports organization said it was considering whether the men's team would participate in the World Championships in Tashkent.
The women's world boxing championship will be held in New Delhi in India from March 15 to 31, and the men's - in Tashkent in Uzbekistan from May 1 to 14.
Umar Kremlev has been heading the IBA (formerly AIBA) since December 2020. Previously, he served as Secretary General of the Russian Boxing Federation. At the time of his appointment, IBA's debts were $20 million. In May 2021, the Kremlin announced the full repayment of all debts. In 2022, he was re-elected as President of the IBA.
In February 2022, the International Olympic Committee recommended that Russian and Belarusian athletes not be allowed to compete due to Russia's war against Ukraine.
On March 4, 2022, the IBA banned Russian athletes from participating in international tournaments under the auspices of the organization, but already on October 5, the IBA canceled the suspension of Russian and Belarusian boxers, athletes are allowed to compete on the international stage under national flags and with national anthems.
On the contrary, the Kazakhstan boxing team will not boycott the World Boxing Championships in India and Uzbekistan. The head of the Boxing Federation of Kazakhstan, Kenes Rakishev, believes that this tournament is important in terms of experience and practice, although it has no qualification points for Olympic licenses.
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