A total of 11 countries, including Poland, have said they will boycott the amateur world boxing championships over the inclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes, Poland’s PAP news agency has reported.
The IBA has so far launched disciplinary action against five countries, the USA, Canada, the Czech Republic, Sweden and New Zealand, it said.
The remaining holdouts include Poland, Ireland, Britain, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Norway.
The countries have said they refuse to take part in the women's championship, scheduled to begin on March 15 in New Delhi, and in the men's championship, in Tashkent, Uzbekistan from May 1 to 14, due to the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in both tournaments, PAP reported.
Germany has said it will also decline to attend but cited training requirements as the official reason.
Russia launched an unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24 last year and Belarus allowed its territory to be used for attacks.
In October, the IBA announced that athletes from Russia and Belarus would be admitted to the championships and able to compete in international tournaments under the flags of their home countries, and if they win, the national anthems will be played.
The move, however, goes against the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) guidance following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
PAP reported that the IBA is headed by a Russian, Umar Kremlev, who is widely seen as a protégé of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Kremlev has been in a near constant state of conflict with the IOC since he became president over two years ago, according to PAP.
The IBA’s main sponsor is Russian energy giant Gazprom.
With war raging at their doorstep, Poland and the Baltic states have called on international sports bodies to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from sports events including next year's Olympic Games in Paris.
Last month, Polish Sports Minister Kamil Bortniczuk suggested creating a team of refugees that would allow some Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under certain conditions.
“I believe this may be a compromise for the International Olympic Committee to avoid being accused of discrimination based on nationality and a way to create not a neutral team but a team of refugees, which could include people of Russian and Belarusian nationality who are dissidents,” Bortniczuk said.
(mo/gs)
Source: PAP