‘We will persevere’ – IABA President assures struggling clubs will be helped

IABA President Dominic O’Rourke shared an open message to the amateur boxing family today.

The Athy BC coach gave an update on the IABA’s Covid 19 stance, discussed a return to boxing and much more.

Possibly most importantly O’Rourke promised the IABA will do all they can to help out the numerous clubs, who are struggling through this period.

The statement read as follows:

I am writing to you today to bring you up to date on where we are at the moment regarding the current Covid-19 crisis and the continuing impact it is having on our sport.

As you are aware, the IABA has been working closely with the government and we continue to monitor the situation very closely. The government has announced August 10th as the date that close physical contact sports, such as rugby and boxing, can resume.

We are using August 10th as the reopening date for all clubs, but with strict guidelines in place.

The IABA will produce guidelines for boxing clubs and advise on actions to take to ensure all our boxers, coaches, officials, medics and the general public are protected as much as possible.

Domestic competitions will remain on hold until such time as it is safe to resume. Unfortunately, International competitions on any scale are still a long way off,  with travel restrictions and controls at ports and airports to remain in place for some time.

Spectators can begin to attend other live sporting events only in accordance with both indoor and outdoor number restrictions and where social distancing can be complied with.

The government will regularly assess the situation as they seek to keep the level of transmission low. The gradual restarting of activities should enable us all to get back to as close to normality as this pandemic will allow.

We are very conscious that there are significant consequences of social distancing measures. The normal structures of daily life – work, school, sport, entertainment – have temporarily ceased to exist. As we reopen, we will be living our daily lives in modified ways for as long as this pandemic remains.

Boxing has been dealt a serious body blow by this pandemic, and we are all under varying degrees of pressure across all levels of our sport. But we will persevere, and as an organisation, do everything we can to help our clubs to get up and running as quickly as possible.

Please be aware the Covid-19 situation remains fluid and circumstances can change very quickly so we will continue to monitor the situation very closely and provide updates as necessary.

Yours in Boxing,

Dominic O’Rourke
President