Amateur boxing world governing body lifts ban on Russian and Belarusian boxers

Russian businessman Umar Kremlev was elected as IBA president in 2020

Amateur boxing's world governing body has lifted its ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes.

Boxers from the two nations were banned from competition in March following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The International Boxing Association's president is Russian Umar Kremlev and it counts Russian state-backed energy giant Gazprom among its chief sponsors.

In a statement, it said it "strongly believes that politics shouldn't have any influence on sports".

Adding it remained "politically neutral and independent", the IBA - formerly known as the AIBA - added: "IBA calls for peace and remains a peacemaker in any conflicts. Moreover, the IBA has obligation to ensure equal treatment towards the athletes and competition officials, regardless of their nationality and residence.

"Both Russian and Belarus teams will be able to perform under their flags, and the national anthems will be played in case they win a gold medal.

"According to the decision, the technical officials of Russia and Belarus will also be back in the competitions."

On Friday, the IBA suspended the Ukrainian boxing federation after it had written to IBA members calling for Kremlev to resign or be voted out of office.

The IBA does not recognise Kyrylo Shevchenko as the Ukrainian federation's president, insisting it is Volodymyr Prodyvus, an ally of Kremlev who left Ukraine after the Russian invasion.

Two days later, IBA delegates voted to reject a proposal to hold new presidential elections, with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) saying it was "extremely concerned" by the result.

The IBA was stripped of involvement in last year's Tokyo Olympics because of governance, finance, refereeing and ethical issues, while it will also not be involved in the running of qualification events or competitions at the Paris 2024 Games.

Boxing was left off the initial list of sports for the 2028 Games.