‘IOC had no choice but to accept lifting the restrictions on Russian athletes’ 

Lausanne, Switzerland: The International Boxing Association (IBA) supports the decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to provisionally lift the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee and declare its neutrality restrictions no longer applicable.

This decision marks the exact outcome the IBA consistently predicted. When the IBA became the first international federation not to impose the ban of Russian and Belarusian athletes — fully following their right to compete under their national flags and anthems, the global sporting community watched with skepticism.

Yet, the IBA stated clearly from the beginning that the rest of the sporting world, including the IOC, would eventually have no choice but to follow boxing’s lead.