World Boxing Championships: Ireland to boycott 2023 men's and women's events

Amy Broadhurst and Lisa O'Rourke both won gold medals at last year's Women's World Championships in Istanbul

Ireland will boycott this year's men's and women's World Boxing Championships after the Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) voted not to send fighters to either tournament.

The IABA's move is in protest over the way the sport is governed by the International Boxing Association (IBA).

The decision was taken at a meeting of the IABA's Board of Directors and Central Council in Dublin on Thursday.

In reponse the IBA said it would pursue strong sanctions

IABA referees and judges will also not officiate at either tournament.

New Delhi in India is set to stage the women's event next month while the men's tournament is scheduled to be held in the Uzbekistan capital Tashkent in May.

The decision means current world champions Amy Broadhurst and Lisa O'Rourke will not be able to defend their titles in India next month and Olympic champion Kellie Harrington, who missed last year's championships because of injury, will miss out on the chance to win a second world gold.

"The IABA urges the IBA to engage in governance reform and implement the recommendations of its own experts on fiscal responsibility, fair play, and inclusion," read an IABA statement.

"IBA practices and activities are not of the standard required to secure our sport's future. There are no winners in the current landscape.

"All members deserve a level playing field in tournaments run to the highest possible standard by an organisation which has their welfare, their futures, and their sport at its heart."

Gold medallists at the men's championships will receive $200,000 (£165,000) for winning although the women's gold medallists will only receive half that figure.

Ireland join the USA who this week announced they were boycotting the championships.

Olympic champion Kellie Harrington missed last year's World Championships because of injury

Both countries are closely aligned with the Common Cause Alliance (CCA), a group of nations whose focus is for boxing to remain at the Olympics, and it is expected that many more European countries will not be sending teams either.

The IBA has been suspended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) since 2019 over governance issues and alleged corruption.

Boxing at the Tokyo Olympics was organised by the IOC and will be again for Paris 2024, but beyond that the sport has been left off the initial programme for Los Angeles 2028 as the IBA has refused to implement changes the IOC wants.

Under their Russian President Umar Kremlev, the IBA has also reinstated Russian and Belarusian boxers to international competition, allowing them to compete under their national flags and using their anthems despite the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Irish boxers will now focus on preparing for the European Games in Poland, where the majority of places for the Paris Olympics will be won, which will be held from 21 June until 2 July.

The IABA added: "The IABA and its athletes are focused on preparations for the European Games in June, and winning qualification to Paris 2024.

"That preparation will include training camps, sparring camps and tournaments with sister federations. The IABA will continue to create opportunities for training, development, and competition for its boxers, nationally and internationally, across all age groups."

Irish and American stance 'truly regretful'

The IBA have described the statements from the IABA and USA Boxing as "truly regretful, as they unreasonably damage the reputation of their international governing body as it directly contravenes many articles of the IBA Disciplinary and Ethics Code, and above all, it damages the reputation of IBA, as it is based on defamatory half truths, which is unacceptable".

It added: "While the IBA has been making great strides in implementing reforms and cultivating a new culture within the sport. This attack on IBA cannot be seen as anything other than a clear act to damage IBA's reputation and breach the values IBA professes while failing to acknowledge the tremendous work done by IBA and supporting the governing body in its efforts and best intentions.

"IBA will support any athlete that wants to participate in the World Championships, to allow them to fulfil their dream of becoming a World Champion. We will protect our athletes, coaches, and the IBA Constitution."

The IBA said the statements of "USA Boxing Executive Director/CEO Mr. Mike McAtee and the leadership of the Irish Athletics Boxing Association" will be investigated to see if there has been a breach of articles of the IBA Disciplinary and Ethics Code.

It listed five possible breaches "amongst others" - disparagement of IBA's reputation and interests, inciting a boycott of a competition, refusal or late participation in competition, neutrality and loyalty and finally discrimination and defamation outside competition.

"The athletes, coaches and officials from a country shall not be liable for any conduct of the management of their national federations or any political games. IBA condemns all political games which damages the sport," the IBA added.

"IBA will strongly react on further similar conduct in breach of the IBA Disciplinary and Ethics Code, and will pursue strong sanctions against those who initiate and join the participation boycott."