The US Boxing Federation has announced the skipping of the upcoming world championships.

The Americans will not take part in either the women's tournament, which is scheduled for March in New Delhi, or the men's tournament, which is scheduled to take place in May in Tashkent.

The organization explained its decision with a number of reasons, including the admission of Russian and Belarusian athletes to the competitions with full-fledged national symbols.

However, as USA Boxing Executive Director Mike McAtee explained, this is far from the main reason, although, as it turns out, the rest are also indirectly connected with Russia.

In particular, the United States is dissatisfied with the way the interaction between the IBA and the IOC is taking place.

According to the American side, the International Boxing Association does not sufficiently implement the recommendations of the Olympic Committee, which would allow keeping the sport in the Games program, and the responsibility for this lies with the head of the association, Umar Kremlev.

As you know, the confrontation between the two organizations has been going on for quite a long time.

Back in 2017, a high-profile corruption scandal broke out, forcing the resignation of the head of the federation, then called AIBA, Ching Kuo Wu.

The Taiwanese functionary was accused of embezzlement and bringing the organization to bankruptcy, and was also disqualified for life.

Due to numerous suspicions of organizing fights, the boxing association was suspended from holding a tournament at the Tokyo Olympics and the IOC was directly involved in organizing the competition.

The election of the Russian Kremlev as the head of the IBA, whom international officials, in particular, accused of establishing too close ties with domestic state-owned companies, did not contribute to the establishment of relations.

According to Makati, recently the situation has not changed for the better at all, which causes serious concerns for USA Boxing.

He noted that the IBA still lacks transparency in the financial system and in the appointment of judges for competitions.

In particular, there is no report on financial activities for the past year in the public domain, and when choosing arbitrators for the Youth World Cup 2022, the rule on the balance of referees and judges was violated.

In accordance with it, seven specialists should be selected from each continent, but a disproportionate number of European representatives worked at the tournament and not a single one from the USA.

And Makati especially noted the fact that the association did not terminate its partnership with Gazprom, which is under sanctions in the United States, the European Union, Canada and other countries.

He also recalled Kremlev's speech at the December IBA Congress, when he announced that not a single boxer, coach or national federation would participate in the Olympic Games without an international association.

The response statement of the IOC is also given.

“The recent congress of the International Boxing Association once again demonstrated that she is not really interested in boxing and boxers, but only in her own power.

Decisions and discussions to exclude boxers from the Olympic Qualifiers and the Olympic Games cannot be interpreted otherwise, ”it says.

Also, the American Federation opposed the admission of Russian and Belarusian athletes to international competitions with national flags and anthems.

“In view of the IBA’s failure to comply with the requirements outlined in the Lalovich report, its failure to provide neutral third-party oversight, false and exaggerated statements from its management, the lack of transparency in financial management and dependence on sanctioned companies, as well as the admission of athletes to competitions under prohibited flags, while playing prohibited anthems and displays of prohibited colors, the US Boxing Federation will not participate in the IBA Women's and Men's Championships," the statement said.

In Russia, the demarche of the American Federation was met without surprise.

So, the head coach of the national team Eduard Kravtsov called the refusal to participate in the World Cup stupid, but expected.

“Unfortunately, unfriendly countries will boycott or try to boycott all competitions, regardless of whether it is boxing or another sport, when the Russian team enters under the Russian flag and, if they win, will play the Russian anthem.

I think that after America, boycotts of other Western countries will follow, ”the Championship quotes the specialist.

He also noted that the absence of US boxers would not greatly affect the status of the tournament and urged not to attach special importance to their act.

“I don’t think you need to go on about all this.

There are rules of the game that have been adopted, in particular, by the IBA leadership.

It is the personal right of Americans to boycott or not,” Kravtsov stressed.

In turn, former WBC world champion Grigory Drozd expressed the opinion that the US Boxing Federation was under pressure from above.

“This is a political decision, but be that as it may, it is the most erroneous.

The conscious refusal to participate in the World Cup is an obvious step back for the team, because this is the second most important tournament after the Olympics.

And in general, this is a very bad example for other countries.

But, given how arrogantly America behaves towards Russia, and indeed the whole world, it does not surprise me that they solve their political problems at the expense of athletes, ”the boxer said in an interview with RT.

He noted that the attacks on Umar Kremlev, traced in the text of the statements, only confirm the aggressiveness of the policy pursued by the United States against Russia.

But, according to Drozd, the head of the IBA has built the right line of conduct and is not inclined to change it under the influence of external circumstances.

“There was always pressure on him.

But Umar Nazarovich, in my opinion, took the absolutely right position - to unite in one big team called "boxing" and, despite all the political stories, step forward and develop his sport.

It prioritizes the interests of athletes and coaches, not politicians and officials, and shows all other sports organizations how to behave when there is such pressure from the United States.

I do not think that this next attack will affect him.

Kremlev is carrying out reforms in Olympic boxing that have never happened before, creating a new page in the history of this sport.

And I am sure that everyone in the boxing world will support him, ”concluded the interlocutor.