The International Boxing Federation (IBA) promised transparency and fairness during the Women’s World Boxing Championship in New Delhi (India), which has a prize pool of 2.4 million USD. Almost a dozen countries boycotted the championship in protest at the inclusion of boxers from Russia and Belarus among the more than 300 participants representing 65 countries.
The IBA lifted the ban on the participation of Russian and Belarusian boxers last October, contrary to International Olympic Committee (IOC) guidelines.
“IBA guarantees everyone transparency and fairness. We put a lot of effort into this process”, said the president of the organization, Umar Kremlev. He welcomed the presence of IOC representatives who would “see first-hand the IBA’s best practices on technical and competition rules”.
For the Women’s World Boxing Championship in New Delhi, the IBA arranged open registration for boxers from boycotting nations and even extended its financial support so that they would not fall “victim of the political games of several national federations”.
It also opened disciplinary proceedings against 11 countries that boycotted the women’s championship in Delhi and the men’s competition scheduled for May in Tashkent.
