Boxing put under IOA ad-hoc panel

NEW DELHI: The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Monday placed the Ajay Singh-led Boxing Federation of India (BFI) under ad-hoc committee's governance following the latter's inability to conduct its elections, which were scheduled on or before February 2.
The action also stemmed from the IOA "receiving numerous complaints from stakeholders, including athletes, coaches and concerned authorities regarding the nonparticipation of Indian boxers in various significant national/international competitions in recent months".
In response, the BFI said it would be filing a petition for quashing IOA's order before the Delhi High Court. Of late, Indian boxers have been missing out on several major competitions partly owing to BFI's internal administrative discord pending its elections and because of its alignment with the new breakaway faction --Switzerland-headquartered World Boxing (WB) -which is yet to secure permanent recognition from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The country's elite boxers were aggrieved after they weren't sent to the prestigious Strandja Memorial international meet in Bulgaria, which commenced on Monday and an important fixture on the international calendar, coming after the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The IOA noted: "The committee shall take immediate steps to address the grievances raised by the boxing community, facilitate athlete participation in upcoming international competitions, and work towards conducting the IBF elections at the earliest."
The BFI president Singh said, "At the outset, I must state that the issuance of this office order is legally untenable, lacks any valid authority in law, and is in clear violation of due process. The IOA has no jurisdiction over the conduct of elections for NSFs. It gives an impression that extraneous factors are at play in this decision-making process."
The five-member committee will be headed by Madhukant Pathak as its chairman and Rajesh Bhandari as the vice chairman.