The following statement is confirmation that MMA Cymru (Welsh Mixed Martial Arts Federation) will not be attending the IMMAF Youth World Championships in Abu Dhabi this summer.
After the recent high-profile departure of Scotland Yard detective Will Lexton-Jones, his disciplinary board, and Safe MMA, we hold no confidence that the current structure within IMMAF has the competence to host a World Championships, that will provide a safe environment for our youth athletes to compete.
Recently a very serious youth safeguarding issue has come to light and we feel the handling of such a matter has been dealt with poorly. MMA Cymru believes that this is the correct course of action at this time.
We haven’t taken this decision lightly and understand this may be upsetting for our athletes, however, we believe the safety at these events is paramount and IMMAF has failed to assure us.
After seeking legal advice, we believe IMMAF held an adequate Safeguarding Policy that if followed correctly by their staff, would have not resulted in multiple federations pulling their athletes on a safeguarding concern. Replacing the policy with an “updated” version is an ignorant response to a serious situation.
MMA Cymru has strong moral and integral beliefs in which no longer align with IMMAF due to their lack of accountability and inaction. Therefore this has assured us we are making the right decision at this time.
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