Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

John Donoghue is 15 years old. He loves boxing. He was due to fight for a bronze medal at the Junior World Boxing Championships in Armenia but was forced to withdraw because he was up against a Russian opponent. He is not the only one. A number of young boxers have been forced to withdraw and unless the policy is changed, a number will be forced to withdraw in the coming days. No other country is doing this, as far as I understand. This policy is not being applied to Israel. It is only being applied to Russian and Belarusian fighters. Those who participate in international events have received an email from the Irish Athletic Boxing Association, IABA, to state that participation is subject to the non-negotiable condition that should an Irish boxer be drawn against a Russian Federation or Belarusian Federation boxer, he or she must withdraw from the contest. This has been done by the IABA on the understanding that if it did not, significant funding would be withdrawn. If that is not the case, can we have a clear statement that if boxers fight Russians or Belarusians, there will be no negative consequences from the IABA for the fighters or local clubs?

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