The Finnish Boxing Federation still sends national team representatives to the World Cup competitions in the sport, even though Russians also compete in the tournament.
20:47•Updated 20:54
The Finnish Boxing Federation had previously announced that it would boycott competitions in which Russians and Belarusians also participate. Finnish boxers will possibly fight against them in the World Cup tournament organized in India in March.
With its recent decision, the board of the boxing association reversed its previous position. In the future, Finnish top boxers will therefore be able to fight in the Olympic qualifiers and rank competitions against athletes from Russia or Belarus.
Executive Director of the Boxing Association Marko Laine commented on the new twist to on Monday.
– It was decided to change the line when it was felt that the situation is unreasonable for the athletes. The Olympics and its qualifiers are approaching, and if there are no international matches, then it’s pointless to even aim for an Olympic place, explains Laine.
Laine finds it difficult and understands that not everyone will necessarily like the decision.
– Within the sport, there has been a discussion about the matter (about the partial passing out of the boycott), and the coaching management then made a presentation about it, which the board accepted, the boxing boss described the process.
With the decision made now, sporting considerations seem to have pushed past ethical values.
– I understand if you want to see it that way. This is a difficult question. We have talked with other countries, and I understand that Sweden, Norway and England, among others, are on the same lines. So suddenly, no country can come to mind who would boycott completely, the executive director points out.
The president of the International Boxing Association IBA is a Russian Umar Kremlev.
Ilta-Sanomat was the first to report on the new twist in the Russian boycott made by the Finnish Boxing Association