Poland’s Sports Minister Kamil Bortniczuk has called on his counterparts to submit a joint proposal to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to remove the International Boxing Association (IBA)’s membership if they decide to let Russian and Belarusian boxers compete under their respective flags.
Bortniczuk said that IBA’s decision could be the beginning of Russia’s effort to “bring their athletes back into international sport”.
Last week, IBA and its Russian President Umar Kremlev decided to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under their national flags.
The decision was met with widespread criticism from the sporting fraternity and contrasted with an IOC recommendation that International Federations (IFs) indefinitely suspend athletes from the two countries due to their nations’ involvement in the invasion of Ukraine.
IBA’s recognition has already been suspended since 2019 but Bortniczuk wants the IF to be removed from the IOC permanently.
“It was with great shock that I have learned about the International Boxing Association’s decision to lift the sanctions imposed on Russian and Belarusian boxers as a result of Russia’s shameful attack on Ukraine,” Bortniczuk said in his letter.
“IBA’s decision, which is effective immediately, means that boxers from Russia and Belarus will be able to perform under the flags of their countries, and if they win a gold medal, they will hear their national anthem.
“This sets an extremely dangerous precedent for the entire world of sport.
“This decision contradicts the recommendations of the International Olympic Committee that called for athletes from Russia and Belarus to be banned from international competition because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“It also runs counter to the statement on Russia’s war on Ukraine and international sport from March 8, 2022 signed by you, Ministers, which states that individual athletes selected by Russia and Belarus, administrators and teams representing the Russian or Belarusian state should be banned from competing in other countries.
“I express serious concerns that the IBA’s decision may be the beginning of a massive Russian effort to bring their athletes back into international sport.
“With the war in Ukraine still going strong and thousands of people losing their lives, we cannot let it happen.
“In this regard, I am calling on all of you to submit to the International Olympic Committee a joint proposal in which we will request the removal of the International Boxing Association from IOC membership.
“We cannot allow Russia to use this situation to permanently return to sports arenas before the end of the war in Ukraine.”
The IOC ran the boxing tournament at Tokyo 2020 and will do so at Paris 2024, while the sport has been left off the initial programme for Los Angeles 2028.
