He believes that sport is out of politics
President of the International Boxing Federation (IBA) Umar Kremlev made an appeal to International Olympic Committee (IOC). The Kremlin called on the IOC to restore athletes from Russia and return them to the competitive process.
“The IBA has taken the first step towards equal opportunity and fairness. Once again I want to say that sport is out of politics. We should have nothing to do with political games all over the world,” Kremlev said.
“I urge the IOC to allow performances for Russian athletes. I call for a change in the policy that excludes athletes.”
“I want to appeal to the entire international sports world: let all athletes compete. They are [спортсмены] they didn’t deserve to be treated so badly by the whole sporting environment.”
“There should be no political games behind the backs of athletes. This is not safe for the future of the sport. The IOC must rectify the situation immediately. We need to give the green light to all athletes, because they are not to blame for anything.”
It should be reminded that the Board of Directors of the International Boxing Association allowed boxers from Russia and Belarus to take part in competitions under the auspices of the IBA. President of the Boxing Federation of Ukraine and vice-president of the IBA Volodymyr Prodivus compared the secret ballot for this decision to holding pseudo-referendums in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
Wladimir Klitschko in his address sharply criticized the decision of the International Boxing Federation. In turn, the FBU appealed to all participating countries with a call to prevent representatives of Russia and Belarus from participating in the competition.
The appeal of the Boxing Federation of Ukraine was supported by the Swedish Boxing Association – boxers from Sweden will not compete in IBA tournaments, to which athletes from Russia and Belarus will be admitted.
Earlier, the IBA suspended the activities of the Boxing Federation of Ukraine. The organization considered that the state bodies of Ukraine were interfering in the work of the sports organization.
In February, the IOC recommended that international federations remove the Russians from the competition due to Russia’s full-scale military aggression against Ukraine.
In early September, the IOC upheld sanctions against Russian athletes. At international competitions there should be no Russian flags, colors and symbols, international federations should not hold competitions in Russia.
Source: Sportarena
