On October 5, the Board of Directors of the International Boxing Federation (IBA) canceled the previous decision and allowed athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete. The decision took effect immediately.
This is stated in the IBA statement.
The International Boxing Federation is convinced that "politics should not influence sports."
“Respecting its own autonomy as an international sports federation, the IBA will remain politically neutral and independent. IBA calls for peace and remains a peacemaker in any conflict. In addition, the IBA is obliged to ensure equal treatment of athletes and competition officials, regardless of their nationality and place of residence," the IBA said.
From now on, the national teams of Russia and Belarus will be able to perform under their flags, and if their athletes win gold medals, the national anthems of these countries will be played.
According to the decision of the IBA board, the technical judges of the Russian Federation and Belarus will also return to the ring.
- In June, Minister of Youth and Sports Vadym Gutzait stated that if representatives from Russia and Belarus were allowed to participate in competitions, Ukrainian athletes were ready to block their performances and boycott such competitions.