The Dutch boxer was introduced as a competitor for The Netherlands but walked out holding an IBA flag and was not wearing any national colours or symbols at the Opening Ceremony staged at the K.D. Jadhav Indoor Hall in Indian capital New Delhi.

She also appeared on the official draw sheet with an IBA flag next to her name after being pitted against Nilufar Boboyorova of Tajikistan in the first round of the women’s light welterweight category.

The Dutch Boxing Federation was among 11 National Federation that decided to withdraw from the Women's World Championships, citing the presence of Russian and Belarusian athletes as one of its chief reasons for the boycott.

Following the withdrawals, the IBA, run by Russian official Umar Kremlev, pledged to provide financial support to athletes from countries boycotting the event to enable them to participate.

Van der Vorst told insidethegames that the Dutch Boxing Federation had contacted the IBA to seek clarification.

"We believe that the registration of Megan de Cler at the 2023 IBA World Championships in India bears violations of the IBA Technical and Competition Rules and have requested immediate clarifications from the IBA," said van der Vorst.

"We also consider this to undermine the authority and independence of the Dutch Boxing Federation with wider governance implications for the sport as a whole."

insidethegames has contacted the IBA to comment on the participation of de Cler and respond to the Dutch Boxing Federation’s accusations.

Van der Vorst leads the Common Cause Alliance of nations seeking to prioritise the preservation of boxing's place at the Olympics from Los Angeles 2028, which is in doubt because of governance concerns.

The Dutch official was wrongly prevented from challenging Kremlev in Istanbul last year before delegates voted against staging a re-run of the Presidential election at an Extraordinary Congress in Yerevan.

When announcing its withdrawal from the Women’s World Championships, the Dutch Boxing Federation claimed that the presence of Russian and Belarusian athletes at recent events represented "another example of IBA's inability or willingness to work towards its reinstatement as an Olympic International Sports Federation" and could "jeopardise the position of boxing as an Olympic sport even further".

De Cler, a silver medallist at last year’s Youth World Championships, was the only athlete from a boycotting country in the draw for the tournament in New Delhi.

The other National Federations that withdrew were the United States, Ukraine, Britain, Ireland, Poland, Canada, Norway, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Sweden.

Athletes from Russia and Belarus had been barred in response to the war in Ukraine until the IBA decided to lift the ban, allowing them to compete under their national flag in contrary to the International Olympic Committee's recommendations.

Russia are set to make their first appearance at the IBA flagship event since the 2019 edition where they topped the medals table.

Diana Pyatak and Alina Veber carried the respective Russian and Belarusian flags at the Opening Ceremony when the 65 participating nations were introduced along with de Cler.

The IBA has been suspended by the IOC since 2019 because of governance issues, but relations slumped to an all-time low following the disputed re-election of Kremlev last year.

It was not involved in the running of the boxing tournament at Tokyo 2020 and has been stripped of the rights for Paris 2024 as well.

Boxing remains off the initial programme for Los Angeles 2028, and Kremlev's re-election and the renewal of the IBA's ties with Russian majority-state owned energy giant Gazprom have added to the IOC's frustration.

Kremlev sat next to Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin who claimed the appearance of Russia’s flag at major sporting events should be "normal" when speaking exclusively to insidethegames.

During his speech at the Opening Ceremony, Kremlev said the IBA "guaranteed to everyone transparency and fairness" and claimed the "best" judges and referees had been appointed for the Women’s World Championships.

It was announced by the IBA on Sunday (March 12) that the IOC would be sending a team to New Delhi to observe the Women’s World Championships.

The IOC monitoring team is expected to be led by PrincewaterhouseCoopers, which will work in parallel with the IBA and its McLaren Independent Investigation Team, led by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren responsible for background checking competition officials.