A crunch meeting is set to be staged online on Wednesday (June 7) when NBB, led by Boris van der Vorst, is expected to hold talks with its members over its future as it looks set to depart the IBA for rival body World Boxing, of which he is a leading member.

The NBB was among several national governing bodies that were suspended by the IBA last month over their ties to the breakaway organisation.

Van der Vorst, part of World Boxing’s Interim Executive Board, is expected to resign as President of the NBB to devote more time to the new body.

On Thursday (June 1), SwissBoxing became the second National Federation to officially announce its resignation from the IBA after USA Boxing quit in April.

The NBB, which is scheduled to hold its General Assembly on June 17 when van der Vorst is due to resign, said it wanted to address any questions from members before taking its next step.

"Boxing in The Netherlands in general and Dutch boxers in particular are entitled to clarity towards the future," a statement from the NBB read.

"After all the incidents, the Board of the Dutch Boxing Association hereby declares that it no longer sees any reason to support an organisation that is unable to organise Olympic boxing fairly and competently but is causing escalation in the international boxing world.

"For the Board, a farewell to IBA seems inevitable in any case.

"We want to take a well-considered decision in principle with the members during the General Meeting of Members and draw up a proposal to that effect."

Van der Vorst is a strong critic of IBA’s Russian leader Umar Kremlev, having attempted to stand against him twice in last year’s Presidential elections.

The Dutch official was wrongly prevented from challenging Kremlev in May and delegates voted against staging a re-run of the election in September even though the Court of Arbitration for Sport had ruled he had been unfairly prevented from standing the first time.

World Boxing was launched in April with the aim of preserving boxing's Olympic future after it was off the initial programme for Los Angeles 2028.

The IBA, which has been suspended by the International Olympic Committee since 2019, was not involved in the organisation of the boxing tournaments at Tokyo 2020, a situation that is set to continue at Paris 2024. 

The IBA has dismissed World Boxing as a "rogue" organisation and suspended the National Federations of New Zealand, Germany, Sweden and The Netherlands over their links to the body.

The NBB had also received a warning by the IBA over possible "repercussions" for staging an "unsanctioned international event in Eindhoven".

A total of 25 countries had registered for the Eindhoven Box Cup but only 17 participated after the IBA and the European Boxing Confederation (EUBC) warned that teams competing in the Dutch city will not be allowed to take part in the 2023 Junior European Championships.

The NBB claimed it was "deeply shocked" and "strongly objects" the actions of the IBA and the EUBC which claimed that boxers, coaches, referees and judges received "unjustified threats".

"The Board of the Dutch Boxing Association first of all reconfirms its position that the IBA has no valid reason to suspend the Dutch Boxing Association," the NBB said.

"In addition, neither IBA nor EUBC is authorized to prevent a Dutch boxing association from organising an international tournament.

"The Eindhoven Box Cup has no IBA status and the Dutch association, in cooperation with the Dutch Boxing Association, has the unalienable right to organise an international tournament on its territory.

"The IBA and the EUBC have no right to threaten participating National Associations, match officials, coaches and boxers with suspensions and other sanctions.

"The IBA and EUBC claim to put the best interests of boxers and coaches first.

"In reality, both organisations have resorted to threats and disruptions for the sole purpose of forcing boxers to withdraw from a well-organized and fair boxing competition.

"The treatment by the IBA and EUBC of teams, boxers, coaches and match officials is unacceptable and contrary to the standards and values that reputable international sports federations must observe."

The NBB are resigned to the situation remaining the same for the foreseeable future.

"Improvement is not in sight," they said in their statement.

"Instead, the IBA continues on a disastrous collision course, leading only to rifts and divisions.

"The time for change is now also for the Dutch Boxing Association."

The NBB was among several governing bodies that boycotted this year’s Women’s and Men’s World Boxing Championships over the presence of Russian and Belarusian boxers without restrictions and the leadership of the IBA.

Megan de Cler of The Netherlands was given financial assistance by the IBA to allow her to fight under a neutral banner at the Women’s World Championships in New Delhi.

insidethegames has contacted the IBA for comment.