Ukraine turns away Russian boxing team for European meet

Eight members of a Russian team for the European Boxing Championships were denied entry in Ukraine and were turned away, a spokesperson for the Russian Boxing Federation said on Wednesday.

The 2017 EUBC European Boxing Championships have been scheduled to be held in the Ukrainian city of Kharkov between June 16 and 26, reports Tass news agency.

According to earlier reports, Russian boxer Georgy Kushitashvili along with spokesman Vlada Romanova, two journalists and several supporting staff from the Russian boxing delegation were detained after their train arrived in Kharkov and were denied entry in the country.

"We were denied to enter the territory of Ukraine because we had previously paid visits to Crimea," Romanova said in an interview with Tass news agency.

"As of now, a total of eight people, including boxer Kushitashvili, will be sent back to Russia."

Russian Boxing Federation President Umar Kremlev said earlier that the Ukrainian organisers of the European boxing tournament had initially provided the Russian delegation with all necessary guarantees regarding security and Russia's participation in the event.

"The Ukrainian side is discrediting itself," Kremlev said. "We see no reasons why our delegation should be treated this way and still have no official response from Ukraine."

--IANS

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