MOSCOW, Sep 30 President of the International Boxing Association (IBA) Umar Kremlev urged The International Olympic Committee (IOC) to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in competitions under its auspices, according to the official website of the organization. At the end of February, the IOC recommended that sports federations not allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in competitions due to the situation in Ukraine. Most federations have followed this recommendation. «Boxers fight not for medals, but to represent their countries. Sport is out of politics: where it begins, politics ends. The IBA is needed in order to protect every boxer, regardless of the political situation on his motherland,” said Kremlev. “Now is the time to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate in all official competitions in their sports, representing their countries. Both the IOC and international federations must protect all athletes, there should be no discrimination based on nationality. It is the duty of each of us to keep sport and athletes out of politics.The IBA and I personally stand ready to support such an initiative and I urge everyone to rise to the occasion and keep our athletes out of politics.»
