As a member of the Common Cause Alliance, a group of primarily Western countries which had hoped for Dutch Boxing Federation President Boris van der Vorst to replace Russian official Umar Kremlev as IBA President at last month's Extraordinary Congress in Yerevan, the Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) had been expected to shun the Youth World Championships.

This was due to the IBA allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to return to its competitions under their national flags and symbols, despite the ongoing war in Ukraine and International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommendations to the contrary.

However, IABA had not publicly confirmed its stance, and did not respond to insidethegames' requests for clarification.

IABA is the national governing body for amateur boxing on the island of Ireland, and the Northern Ireland-based newspaper the Irish News reported that the Spanish Government had blocked the participation of Russian and Belarusian teams at the Youth World Championships.

This removes the obstacle to Irish participation, and IABA President Gerry O'Mahony has confirmed that it now plans to send a team.

"Ireland will take part in the [Youth] Worlds - we’re in the process of that at the moment," he said, as reported by the Irish News.

"The IBA allowing Russia and Belarus back was a deliberate snub to the IOC, and would do greater damage to boxing in the long-term because if we’re not an Olympic sport, the consequences are grave."

He also claimed that IABA's stance had some influence on Russia and Belarus being unable to participate at the event.

"I would like to think the decision the IABA central council made on Saturday put an extra bit of pressure on Spain and other countries," O'Mahony said, as reported by the Irish News.

"We’re a small country but we’re brave enough to stand up and do something."

The Boxing Federations of Russia and Belarus have told insidethegames that they intend to send teams to compete at the Youth World Championships.

A Russian Boxing Federation official said they were unaware of such a position from the Spanish Government, and insisted "we were very pleased to be able to take part in international competitions again" and "sport should not be in politics".

A Belarusian Boxing Federation official said: "We have an official paper from IBA and EUBC about the admission of Belarusian and Russian boxers to the forthcoming competition.
“This is the only document that has weight and all Federations must follow it."

They also argued IBA’s Board of Directors had made a "correct and very significant decision", and that athletes from both countries "have full legal right to show their talent in the ring".

insidethegames has asked the IBA and the Spanish Boxing Federation if they are aware of Russian and Belarusian boxers being unable to compete at the Championships.

The IBA stunned the sporting world last week when its Board of Directors voted by 14 to one to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete under their flags at its events, making boxing the first Olympic sport to take such a move.

The Boxing Federations of Sweden and Finland are among the nations who plan boycotts of events where Russia and Belarus are present, while the Common Cause Alliance had issued a statement arguing that the IBA's decision "escalates risks related to the integrity of boxing competitions".

Russia and Belarus are not competing at the Women's European Championships in Montenegro due to begin on Friday (October 14) because the entry list had already closed.

The IBA Youth World Boxing Championships is due to be held from November 14 to 26 in the Spanish municipality of La Nucia, which was awarded the event last month.

It is set to mark the first time Spain has held an international competition organised by the IBA.

Boxing has been left off the initial programme for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, and its hopes have been plunged into further doubt by an escalating dispute with the IOC.

At last month's Extraordinary Congress in Yerevan, almost three-quarters of delegates voted against allowing Dutch Boxing Federation President Boris van der Vorst to stand against Kremlev in an election.

Van der Vorst had been deemed ineligible to stand on the eve of the Extraordinary Congress in Istanbul in May, but successfully appealed against this decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.