Athletes expressed their desire to withdraw from the tournament
President of the Boxing Federation of Ukraine Vladimir Prodivus spoke about the scandalous situation that arose with the Ukrainian team at the European Youth Boxing Championship.
“I am categorically against the decision of the IBA to ban Ukrainian national teams from playing under the national flag. It is unacceptable. Especially during the war, when our people die for these colors. We have the right to fight under them and in boxing rings.”
“Now I am in touch with all our coaches. I urge them to boycott this decision and not to act under white flags. As vice president of the IBA and coordinator of Ukraine in the association, I am doing my best to resolve this situation as soon as possible.”
“Why did this even happen? The IBA suspended the powers of the Boxing Federation of Ukraine. Thus, the IBA reacted to the intervention of the government of Ukraine represented by the Minister of Sports in the activities of the autonomous FBU, as well as corruption, which led to an illegitimate change in the leadership of the federation.”
“I did not support this decision and until the last moment I tried, if not to prevent it, then at least to delay it. It is clear what danger this represents for the future of Ukrainian boxing. Lack of funds, mass layoffs of coaches, disruption of the training process… We are already fully feeling these consequences.”
“This terrible and shameful situation must be resolved as soon as possible. At my level, I do everything possible for this.”
Recall that the International Boxing Federation (IBA) has suspended the activities of the Boxing Federation of Ukraine. The association considered that the state bodies of Ukraine are interfering in the work of a sports organization.
Due to the conflict between the FBU and the IBA, the Ukrainian junior team was forced to compete at the European Boxing Championship, which began today in Italy, under a neutral flag. However, Ukrainian athletes held a protest against this decision and refused to compete at the European Championships.
In February, an extraordinary reporting and election conference of the FBU was held at the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine. Representatives of 17 regional federations elected Kirill Shevchenko as the new president of the FBU, but the previous head of the organization, Vladimir Prodivus, refused to consider the elections legal.
Source: Sportarena
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