Gavin Cooney

ELEVEN IRISH BOXERS not selected for this month’s World Youth Championships have taken the unprecedented step of asking the Russia-backed International Boxing Association (IBA) to be allowed to compete at the tournament as neutral athletes. 

The Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) have selected a separate team of eight boxers for the championships, and have warned the 11 boxers they do not have permission to travel to the event and threatened sanctions on support staff if they do travel. 

The IABA last month selected a team of eight boxers to compete at the championships in Montenegro, and publicly announced the team yesterday. 

A separate group of 11 boxers who are part of the general Irish squad but were not selected for the event in Montenegro have thus sought an unprecedented backdoor to the event by asking organisers IBA to allow them compete as ‘neutral’ athletes. It is understood they communicated their request to the IBA via an individual involved in Irish amateur boxing. 

It is unclear at this point whether the IBA have granted their request to compete at the championships. The IBA did not respond to a request for comment. There is no known global precedent for such a request being granted. 

“The IABA yesterday named eight boxers selected to contest the 2024 World Youth Championships. These are the only eight boxers who will represent Ireland at this tournament”, the IABA said in a statement released to The 42. 

“IABA is aware that there is a group of athletes who are members of IABA who have sought to participate in the tournament under the IBA’s Neutral Athlete Mechanism. IABA has not granted permission to travel to this group of athletes or their support staff. Furthermore, IABA has communicated sanctions leviable in such instances to all clubs.

“IABA has communicated with IBA on this matter, to state that the only team which it should state as representing Ireland is the team.” 

If the request is granted by the IBA and the 11 boxers compete in Montenegro, the IABA will not provide them with insurance cover, and the boxers aged over 18 along with any travelling support staff will be sanctioned by the Irish body. The IBA could theoretically underwrite the boxers’ insurance costs. 

The IBA’s ‘neutral athlete’ mechanism is ordinarily reserved for refugee athletes, or those not affiliated to a federation. Those allowed to compete as neutral athletes do not display a national flag, and no national anthem is played if the athlete wins a gold medal. 

Were the IBA to grant the request of the 11 Irish boxers, it would mark a radical departure from the principle of the neutral athlete.

In Ireland’s case, the parent/guardian of all youth boxers involved in the national squad sign a nomination agreement form, confirming that they understand the IABA’s selection criteria and respect that these selections calls are final. A backdoor application to a world championship event via a global governing body would have ramifications for the the principle of national selection in all federations.  

The IBA continue to organise world amateur boxing championships at senior and youth level in spite of the fact the International Olympic Committee no longer recognises it as the sport’s governing body, citing concerns about governance, bout-fixing, and the organisation’s closeness to Russia. 

IBA president Umar Kremlev is believed to have close ties with Vladimir Putin, and lives in Russia. The IBA is largely bankrolled by Russian state gas company, Gazprom. 

Nearly three dozen nations, including nearly all of the prominent Western boxing nations have left the IBA to form World Boxing, a new governing body, in an attempt to keep boxing in the 2028 Olympics. The IABA voted at an EGM last weekend to remove all references to the IBA in its constitution, with a view to holding a later vote on affiliating with World Boxing, and securing a place at LA 2028.