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In spring 2022, our European WKF board decided 7:1 not to exclude our Russian sports friends of WKF RUSSIA from participating in the European Championships in Wels, Austria, from October 24th to 29th.
The reason was that we are a worldwide sports federation – and not politicians!
We were also criticized for this decision!
For the same reason (!) the Olympic Boxing Association IBA has now abolished its ban on Russian AND Belarusian athletes with immediate effect.
IBA Board of Directors
voted in favor to cancel its previous decision and allow boxers of Russia and Belarus to compete at the IBA events with immediate effect. The IBA strongly believes that politics shouldn’t have any influence on sports. Hence, all athletes should be given equal conditions.
Respecting its own autonomy as the international sports federation, the IBA shall remain politically neutral and independent. IBA calls for peace and remains a peacemaker in any conflicts. Moreover, the IBA has obligation to ensure equal treatment towards the athletes and competition officials, regardless of their nationality and residence.
Both Russian and Belarus teams will be able to perform under their flags, and the national anthems will be played in case they win a gold medal.
According to the decision, the technical officials of Russia and Belarus will also be back in the competitions.