The Czech Boxing Association (CBA), Boxing Canada and the Swedish Boxing Association have said they will boycott the Women’s and Men’s World Championships this year due to the planned participation of Russia and Belarus under their national flags while Great Britain will be absent from the women’s event.
The four countries join the United States and Ireland in planning to be absent from the International Boxing Association (IBA) events.
CBA President Marek Šimák told Radiožurnál Sport. “It bothers us. It’s wrong. The association is led by a Russian who is in a very close relationship with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, and everything is paid for by Gazprom. The stupid thing is that Europe is small and he (IBA President Umar Kremlev) influences it worldwide with money.”
Boxing Canada said in a statement its boycott was due to the planned participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes, as well as a protest at the sport’s governance. “Given the continued corruption within the International Boxing Association, we have significant concerns surrounding the risk our sport faces and its future within the Olympic line-up,” Boxing Canada President Ryan O’Shea said. “We understand the implications this decision will have on our national team athletes, and we are working diligently alongside our sport partners to find a suitable replacement tournament to continue developing our high-performance athletes in preparation for the Pan American Games qualifiers as well as the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.”
Swedish Boxing Association chairman Per-Axel Sjöholm said the IBA’s decision to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to feature was the main factor in their decision to join the boycott. “We do not accept IBA’s handling,” said Sjöholm, as reported by Teller Report. “There is no democracy or transparency. We have worked for several years to bring about a change, but without success. Then they made the decision themselves to allow Russia and Belarus to compete, moreover under national flags. Another reason is that the Olympics are much more important to us than the World Championships organised by IBA. So it was an easy decision for us in Sweden.”
The IBA, formerly AIBA, has been suspended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) since 2019.
Source: https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1133685/cba-boycott-iba-world-championships