International Boxing Association are pro-Russian Putin admirers who ruin sport – former Ukrainian boxer Klitschko

Volodymyr Klitschko, former Ukrainian super heavyweight boxing champion, has accused the International Boxing Association (IBA) of destroying sports and playing along with pro-Russian forces.

Source: Klitschko in an interview with Tribuna.com

"Horrible things happened in the AIBA in the past and in IBA in the past and in the present. The corruption in the amateur sports was slapped in the face by the International Olympic Committee. It will be horrible if this sport ceases to exist. And we know who is behind the IBA – pro-Russian admirers of Putin who are destroying sports.

Boxing can exist without corruption – the one which exists in amateur sports. I’m convinced that there would be no sports without the IOC, and I believe that with the IOC it would be completely cleared, polished and without corruption, just like it should be.

Like in basketball organisations, for instance, where the federation is also responsible for the athletes after they finish their career – it educates them, pays them a pension, provides healthcare opportunities, protects them from bad things which happen when athletes end their career and get lost in life.

So such an organisation should also exist in boxing in order to boost athletes’ confidence in their future – if they sacrifice their time and health but something goes wrong and they do not achieve remarkable results. We hear about many champions but it’s only the tip of the iceberg. Hundreds, thousands of athletes, sadly, simply disappear from the media space, we don’t hear about them and we don’t know what happens to them," Volodymyr Klitschko said.

Background: Boxing may be eliminated from the programme of the 2028 Olympics in Los-Angeles due to numerous corruption scandals in IBA headed by Umar Kremlev.

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