They wanted to force Ukrainian boxers to compete under a neutral flag
President of the Boxing Federation of Ukraine Kirill Shevchenko announced the removal of Ukrainian athletes from the European Youth Championship.
“The events that took place today at the European Championships in Italy, namely the ultimatum that the Russian authorities of the IBA, together with the vice-president, former citizen of Ukraine Volodymyr Prodivus, gave us before the start of the competition, are categorically unacceptable.”
“They wanted to force our athletes to remove the Ukrainian flag and compete under the IBA flag as an impersonal team. This is against all laws. This is an attempt to insult the honor of our guys and the honor of our country.”
“Our athletes still did not give up and staged a protest, coming out with our flag in their hands and refusing to participate in the competition. It cost our boxers medals and valuable victories. But our athletes, like real Ukrainians, have chosen our beloved country.”
“We are proud of our athletes. They are real Ukrainians and deserve high awards. Honor and praise to them. We will do everything so that the rashist Prodivus, as well as the enemy and aggressor Kremlin, will never again be in world boxing!” Shevchenko emphasized.
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.
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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