According to International Boxing Association (IBA) president Umar Kremlyev, the International Olympic Committee is persecuting the organization it heads because it is a Russian citizen.
Kremljov leveled his accusations against the IOC in a letter sent to member states of the world federation – signed by the Greek IBA secretary general, George Jerolimposz – after the body said on Thursday: they are considering excluding boxing from the programme. of the Paris 2024 Olympics.
“The last congress of the IBA has once again indicated that the International Boxing Federation is not really interested in the sport of boxing and the plight of boxers, they only care about their own power,” the IOC indicated that the IBA has extended the contract with its sole main sponsor, the Russian company Gazprom, largely controlled by the Russian government.
According to Kremlyev, the threat to remove boxing is part of the IOC’s campaign “manipulated for geopolitical purposes, directed against athletes and sports” aimed at ousting the current leadership of the IBA, reports MTI.
The Russian sports leader said the IBA is committed to becoming a financially sound, independent and sustainable organization after being cleansed of previous management woes.
The boxing association was barred from Olympic competition in 2019 by the IOC due to management, financial and sporting issues, so last year’s Tokyo Olympics boxing tournament was organized independently by the IBA. Due to the unchanged concerns, the IOC wants to organize the boxing competitions at the 2024 Paris Games under its own organization and boxing was no longer included in the preliminary program of the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Kremlinov said it would cause a vociferous response if boxing was removed from the Olympic schedule. He further fueled the controversy by stating that he hopes to welcome Russian and Belarusian boxers back into IBA competition. The World Federation recently lifted the competition ban imposed on boxers from the two war-affected countries in Ukraine, introduced on the recommendation of the IOC, so that Russian and Belarusian athletes can compete in international competitions under their national flags as well.
