Letting the Russians sing their national anthem again is the straw that broke the camel’s back: KNVB avoids World Cup | Sports area

The Netherlands and a number of other countries will not participate in the Women’s World Cup, which will be held in India next month. Reason: The IBA Championship allows Russians and Belarusians to participate under their own flag and national anthem. The International Olympic Committee and about thirty affiliated National Olympic Committees do not want this. Of course, it is about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The NBB will later decide that the Netherlands will participate in the Men’s World Cup in Uzbekistan at the beginning of May.

Jeremy Bisson (35 years old) from Eindhoven is the head of the southern region of the National Bank of Bahrain, and is a board member of the competition committee of the IBA. “But you could say that my colleagues and I were unceremoniously suspended by the IBA,” he adds.

The IBA has been blacklisted by the International Olympic Committee for years. This is due in part to the former IBA’s corrupt board of directors, which left the boxing house neglected upon his departure. Moscow-controlled or not, Kremlev became IBA chairman at the end of 2020. He brought in Gazprom as the main sponsor. But the IOC felt that IBA was not cleaning his house well and fast enough. Sanctions followed. “The IBA is still not transparent,” says Besson, who asked about transparency around finances at the IBA conference in Yerevan at the end of September. He was denied the right to speak.

Meanwhile, the Western world withdrew its hand from Gazprom, of which the Russian federal government owns more than fifty percent. IBA – in their own words – went along with this. The contract with the giant oil company was not renewed at the end of last year. Whether this is true is another matter.

World Cup winners (12 weight classes) earn $100,000 each in New Delhi. Each winner of the World Championships (13 categories) in Tashkent will receive $200,000. Together, the prize money for the two editions of the World Cup is around $7 million. “You may be wondering where that money is coming from,” said Bisson.

Kremlev makes good use of it 1 vote-System. The vote of Nauru, with its population of 12,000, is as valuable in Congress as that of America, which has 22,000 registered competitive boxers. The Russian president committed himself to many small businesses by distributing support packages. In passing, the IBA insults the IOC wherever possible. The association recently coldly stated that the next World Cup finals is October for the 2024 Games. The IOC identified four more October moments at the end of last year. “These messages are a counter-reaction to the reports from the IOC,” says Besson. “Interest-based advertising (IBA) spreads misinformation to create confusion.”

But why hasn’t NBB distanced itself from the men’s World Cup yet? “Hopefully, the IBA will come to their senses,” says Bisson. “That Russians and Belarusians are not allowed to participate under their flag. If that happens right away, we will continue to participate in two World Cups. But the IBA leaves us no choice.”