Italy has no plans to join boycott of IBA Women’s World

Rome: The Italian Boxing Federation (FPI) has revealed that it has no plans to join a boycott of this month’s International Boxing Association (IBA) Women’s World Championships as it looks to ramp up preparations for the event.

A total of 11 countries have so far announced their withdrawal from the tournaments due to the presence of Russian and Belarusian boxers.

But Italy looks set to attend IBA’s flagship event, scheduled to be held from March 14 to 26 in Indian capital New Delhi, after selecting a 10-strong training squad.

FPI President Flavio D’Ambrosi claimed he had not been instructed by the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) to pull out of the Women’s World Championships.

“I don’t see anything impeding our participation,” said D’Ambrosi in a report by Italian news agency ANSA.

“I am a federal manager, I have to protect my discipline and, I repeat, I do it according to the CONI guidelines.

“No one has told me that Italy does not must participate and I make technical and not political evaluations.

“The Azzurri must also go because their presence will be preparatory to the Olympic qualifiers at the end of June established and managed by the IOC [International Olympic Committee]”.

Yesterday, the Norwegian Boxing Association became the 11th national governing body to announce that it would be boycotting the Women’s World Championships.

Norway joined United States, Ukraine, Poland, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Britain, Ireland, the Czech Republic, Sweden and Canada which had previously revealed that they would be shunning the event.

Many of those nations have also decided to boycott the Men’s World Championships, scheduled to take place from May 1 to 14 in Uzbek capital Tashkent.

The IBA, led by controversial Russian official Umar Kremlev, lifted a ban on boxers from Russia and Belarus competing under their own flag last October despite the IOC’s recommendations to the contrary because of the war in Ukraine.

Italy’s Irma Testa, who claimed an Olympics bronze medal in the featherweight category at Tokyo 2020, has already faced Russian opposition having lost to Ludmila Vorontsova at last month’s IBA World Boxing Tour Golden Series event in Moroccan city Marrakesh.

Testa has been named in Italy’s training squad in preparation for the Women’s World Championships as she seek to go one better than last year’s event in Istanbul where she picked up silver.

Italy’s team also features Roberta Bonatti, Giordana Sorrentin, Sirine Chaarabi, Olena Savchuk, Alessia Mesiano, Rebecca Nicoli, Assunta Canfora, Angela Carini, Melissa Gemini.

A training camp is set to be held from tomorrow until March 12 where Italy will select the team for the Women’s World Championships.