AIBA suspends Sarita Devi for Asian Games protest; boxer to miss world championships

AIBA, the amateur boxing’s governing body, has provisionally suspended India boxer L Sarita Devi for an unspecified period for her emotional protest at the 2014 Asian Games. Sarita burst in to tears at the medal ceremony and refused to accept her bronze medal. Sarita will miss the World Boxing Champions in Jeju, South Korea next month. AIBA has also suspended Sarita’s three coaches - Gurbakhsh Singh Sandhu, Blas Iglesias Fernandez and Sagar Mai Dhayal - as well as Adille Sumariwalla, who was India’s Chef de Mission at the Asian Games held in Incheon last month. [caption id=“attachment_1768511” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Sarita Devi crying on the podium during the medal ceremony. AP[/caption] Her case will now be reviewed by AIBA’s disciplinary commission. Sarita told PTI that she was unaware of the development and will only act when she gets a formal word from AIBA. “I have not received any communication from AIBA as of now. When I will see the letter, I will decide what I have to do.” On the other hand, coach Sandhu was optimistic about the situation and said the matter will be resolved soon. “We have got the notice from AIBA and we have to reply to it in 7 days time. We are preparing our reply and hopefully the matter will be resolved,” Sandhu said. Sarita’s protest took place a day after she was widely perceived as having been robbed by the judges in her lightweight semi-final bout with South Korean boxer Jina Park. To the untrained eye, it looked like Sarita had dominated the fight, especially in the final two rounds, leaving her opponent with a bloodied nose. But the judges ruled in Jina’s favour, causing boos to rain down from the crowd. At the medal ceremony, Sarita burst into tears and refused to allow the bronze medal to be placed around the neck. She then took the medal and put it around a stunned Jina’s neck, as if to say this is your medal, not mine. After Sarita had returned to her place on the podium, the Korean boxer followed her and begged her to take the medal back. Sarita cupped Jina’s face in her hands and through a waterfall of tears, initially refused. She eventually relented and took the medal back but did not put it around her neck and left it behind on the podium after the ceremony ended. “It was a protest for all the sportsmen and women of the world against injustice in sport,” Sarita said later. “Had I kept the medal, it would have reminded me of the injustice and cheating all my life. So I decided not to accept it.” Sarita’s controversial protest sent a tremor racing through the Asian Games and AIBA responded harshly, saying her protest was unacceptable and should not be tolerated. Sarita later apologised for her actions and while the Olympic Council of Asia only gave her a warning, her apology appears not to have swayed AIBA. The full text of the AIBA statement is below: AIBA Executive Committee Bureau decided today October 21, 2014 to provisionally suspend Mrs Laisham Sharita Devi, her coaches (Messrs Gurbakhsh Singh Sandhu, Blas Iglesias Fernandez and Sagar Mai Dhayal) as well as Mr Adille J Sumariwalla, Chef de Mission – India, who were all present at the Incheon 2014 Asian Games, and not to allow any of them to participate at all levels of AIBA Competitions, Events and Meetings until further notice. This case has been sent for review by the AIBA Disciplinary Commission, and it means that Mrs Laisham Sharita Devi, the above mentioned coaches as well as Mr Adille H. Sumariwalla will not be allowed to participate to the AIBA Women’s With inputs from PTI