Summary: Boxing Federation of India needs to put its house in order, or else the turmoil may impact India’s preparation for the World Championships in September
Disagreement among top officials of the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) has become public in the build up to the 2025-2029 BFI elections of the office bearers.
Instead of settling their differences amicably, the agenda of elections has snowballed into a major controversy, which unfortunately is impacting the sport.
While acrimonious officials in the race to the top posts have knocked the doors of the court due to one reason or the other, the March 28 election has been postponed. A stable BFI is important to take crucial calls like holding national camps and domestic tournaments, appointing coaches for elite teams, and preparing the boxers for the ongoing season with an eye on 2026 Asian Games and LA28 Olympics, where boxing has been included.
Fears are that the ongoing tussle might hit the development of boxing. The delay in holding the women’s national championships, which was postponed thrice, is an example. Due to this, the elite women’s team was unable to compete in the March 31 to April 5 World Boxing Cup in Brazil. The men’s team however, was fortunate to be taking part in the season-opening global competition.
“If things are not sorted quickly in BFI, this will impact Indian team performance at this year’s World Championships in September. We need to start planning and preparing for the major event and the World Cup at home,” a former national boxing coach said.
Sadly, this is the overwhelming feeling among boxers and trainers. Though BFI president Ajay Singh has promised that the happenings on the sidelines will not have any bearing on the sport. On the final day of the women’s national championships in Greater Noida, Singh unveiled plans to host the Youth National Championships next month in Greater Noida, the Junior Nationals in Nainital in May and the sub-junior nationals in Delhi or Goa in June. These important domestic competitions have not been held for some time.
“We remain committed to protecting the interests of our boxers and ensuring that all National Championships are successfully completed within the next two months. The national camps will also start very soon and women are not going to miss any more championships. Boxers will not suffer,” said Singh.
Off-the-ring drama
With Singh keen to stay in the office for a third term and former sports minister Anurag Thakur jumping in fray to challenge him, the off-the-ring drama has become interesting.
Singh, the chairman and managing director of SpiceJet, issued a circular that Anurag Thakur wasn’t eligible to represent Himachal Pradesh boxing unit and his name was struck off the electoral list, which has further delayed the election procedure. Thakur went to court and got a reprieve.
Singh was at the helm for a good eight years. But all this years’ BFI officials, now up in arms against him, did not question his wisdom to run the national sports federation that has earned India medals at the Olympic Games.
The BFI president represents the Uttarakhand boxing unit. A boxing coach running an academy in the state lamented about the development of boxing in the state. “We don’t get any support from the state boxing unit,” the coach said.
Veteran sports administrator like Rajesh Bhandari from Himachal Pradesh, who is playing a pivotal role in the elections and is at loggerheads with Singh, too has been silent on important issues.
No questions raised on Paris preparation
Speculations were rife about the Indian boxing team’s lack of preparations for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, especially after high performance director Bernard Dunne controversially quit at a crucial time.
It resulted in a not-so-encouraging performance by Indian boxers in Paris. There was no retrospection by key office bearers regarding such an unimpressive showing. Neither any plan was drawn to plan and prepare for the new season.
Two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen, worlds medallist Amit Panghal, Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain failed to live up to her reputation. Only Nishant Dev (71kg) gave a courageous display and lost a close quarterfinal against Mexico’s Marco Verde.
The build-up to the Paris Games was not smooth. There was not one plan that the national team was following. While all Paris-bound boxers went to Europe for the final preparation, Panghal preferred to train with his personal coach in Himachal Pradesh. His act was loud and clear! He had opposed foreign coach selection policy and wanted to train on his own. Then, none of the boxing administrators, generally seen jostling for pictures at important functions, put their heads together to resolve the issue.
Punjab boxer and Tokyo Olympian Simranjit Kaur was critical of the BFI selection policy that was based on evaluation of boxers in the camp.
Despite good performances, she felt she was denied a place in the Paris Olympics qualifiers as Dunne wanted young boxers to represent the country. Selection trials are the best way to judge a boxer, feels Simranjit. “Age shouldn’t be the criteria to deny someone a place in the national team. How does everyone know in advance who is going to be selected in the team? Selection trials are the best way to pick the team in a country like India where there are so many quality boxers in every weight class,” Simranjit said. Young Jaismine Lamboria was given a chance by the foreign coach at the Asian Games. After not being able to make the cut from Asiad, Jaismine, eventually qualified in 57kg from the world qualifiers but failed to impress in Paris.
Sports administrators need to keep politics away from sport because if the performance of Indian boxers is not good inside the ring, officials will not get any recognition.
