Ukrainian boxers caught in limbo as federation refuses to leave Russian-led IBA

Ukraine has produced some iconic Olympic boxing champions, such as Wladimir Klitschko and Oleksandr Usyk, but its fighters could miss LA28 unless its national governing body joins World Boxing

If you would have expected one country to have quit the Russian-led International Boxing Association to join the breakaway World Boxing it would have been Ukraine. But a bitter dispute there is threatening to jeopardise the hopes of its country’s boxers competing at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles with the Boxing Federation of Ukraine under the control of Oleg Ilchenko, a Russian-supporting President who has sworn loyalty to the IBA.

A new organisation called the Ukrainian Boxing Association has been set up under the control of Andriy Kotelnik, the 2000 Olympic lightweight silver medallist. They have opened negotiations with World Boxing in the hope of being able to join. Talks have become even more urgent after the International Olympic Committee recognised World Boxing as the official governing body to oversee the tournament at LA28 and ruled that only countries who belong to them are eligible to compete.

“The FBU supports the structure of the IBA - a global organisation headed by Russian Umar Kremlev,” Kotelnik said. “At the same time, I and several other representatives do not support this movement and are radically opposed to it. It is not right to support an organisation headed by a Russian.”