TORONTO — Canada will not compete in this year’s men’s and women’s world boxing championship because of the inclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes and also in protest of how the world governing body of the sport operates.
Canada has joined United States, Britain, Ireland and Czechia among countries boycotting the women’s championship March 15-26, in New Delhi, India.
Canada, the U.S., Ireland and Czechia have also pulled out of the men’s championship May 1-14 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, with Britain reviewing its involvement.
“Given the continued corruption within the International Boxing Association, we have significant concerns surrounding the risk our sport faces and its future within the Olympic lineup,” Boxing Canada president Ryan O’Shea said Tuesday in a statement.
The International Olympic Committee suspended the International Boxing Association in 2019 because of long-standing governance issues.
Russian businessman Umar Kremlev was re-elected president last year.
The IBA has allowed Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under their own flags and anthems despite the IOC’s insistence they shouldn’t following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with the approval of Belarus.
The IOC administered the Olympic boxing tournament in Tokyo in 2021 and is managing the qualifiers for 2024 in Paris.
Boxing is not on the Olympic program in Los Angeles in 2028.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 14, 2023.
— With files from The Associated Press.
