The Boxing Federation of Kenya (BFK) has announced that the National Under 18 team will not take part in the IBA Youth Men's and Women's world boxing Championship slated to occur in La Nucia, Spain.
The federation through their social media accounts on Tuesday, November 15, faulted the Ministry of Sports for missing out on the championships due to lack of funds.
The team of 10 has been on a month-long residential training at Mathare Police Depot.
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“The National under 18 Boxing team will not be participating in the ongoing IBA Youth Men's and Women's world boxing Championship in La Nucia, Spain due to unavailability of funds from the Ministry of Youth Affairs, Sports and The Arts,” the statement read.
The Sports ministry is yet to give a statement on the allegations made by BFK.
The IBA Youth Men’s and Women’s World Boxing Championships kicked off on Monday, November 14, at the Ciudad Deportiva Camilo Cano arena in La Nucía, Spain.
The IBA Youth Men’s and Women’s World Boxing Championships will take place until Saturday, November 26.
Prior to the kick-off, IBA President Umar Kremlev held three important meetings in Spain with athletes, their coaches and with officials.
“You are our future, fight here like never before to achieve your dreams. We will do our best to continue creating conditions for your further development.
“Coaches and boxers are the main values of IBA, together with the National Federations. If there were no coaches, there would be no athletes and no boxing at all. I am here to help all of you. We cleaned our sport and saved the organization from bankruptcy. Now, we shouldn’t be silent, we should fight for our rights. If we don’t speak up, there will be no boxing at the Olympics. We shouldn’t be afraid to prevent this crime,” Umar Kremlev stated.
Umar Kremlev sought the match officials to be fair and transparent in their decisions as they play a key determinant in a boxer's fate.
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