Ukraine to boycott the World Boxing Championship due to russian and belarusian athletes’ participation

Women's and men's boxing national teams will not participate in the 2023 World Championship due to the admission of belarusian and russian athletes to the competition.

The vice-president of the Boxing Federation of Ukraine,  Oleh Ilchenko, stated this, according to the media "Suspilne Sport."

Ukraine has decided to boycott the upcoming championship. The national federation does not agree with the decision of the International Boxing Association (IBA) to allow belarusians and russians to compete, moreover – under their national flags.

"Our answer is clear: our athletes and representatives of the Boxing Federation of Ukraine will not participate in the competitions where the representatives of the aggressor countries – namely russia and belarus  – will perform," Ilchenko said.

In addition, the official announced a possible boycott of the 2024 Olympic Games if the russian and belarusian national teams will compete there. Ukraine's main tournament of 2023 will now be the European Games. In June, Poland will host the competition, which will have the status of selection for the Olympics.

Ukraine has been added to the list of countries that will not participate in the World Boxing Championship. Previously, nine national federations – Great Britain, Ireland, Canada, the Netherlands, Poland, the USA, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, and Sweden – refused to perform with the russians and belarusians. At the same time, the International Olympic Committee deprived the IBA of the right to conduct qualification for the 2024 Games.

Earlier, Australia joined the opponents of russia's return to international sports.

For reference:

New Delhi, India, will host the Women's World Boxing Championship on March 15-31. The men's world championship will be held on May 1-14 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

At the last World Boxing Championships, Ukraine won only one medal, namely Yuriy Zakhareev's "gold" medal at the 2021 World Championships in the first middleweight category.

After the USA and Ireland decided to boycott the World Boxing Championships, the IBA reacted by threatening sanctions against the federations of these countries.