With no IABF, who will pick India's boxers for Commonwealth Games?

If the story of the Indian Olympic Association over the last year has been a tragedy disguised as a farce, the story of Indian boxing is simply a tragedy. With the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games looming, India has no boxing federation to organise tournaments, schedule training camps or select boxers to represent the country after the Indian government derecognised the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation yesterday (the IABF was already banned by AIBA, its international parent body). The IOA, which was readmitted to the Olympic fold after its own trials and tribulations, is considering forming a committee to select the boxers for the Commonwealth Games, But as one state boxing federation president pointed out to Firstpost, how will these IOA officials from other sports know how to select a boxer? If IOA or the government of India select the boxers, “that is again going to be a blunder”, Asit Banerjee, the West Bengal boxing president federation said. Adding to an already complicated situation is the fact that no national championships have been held since the federation was originally suspended by AIBA back in 2012. As a result, it has made it all but impossible to identify young upcoming talent who might follow in the footsteps of the Vijenders and Mary Koms. If there had been a national championship, the IOA could have selected a team based on the results. In the absence of the nationals, the IOA committee must naturally struggle to pick India’s best boxers in 2014. At the very least, selection without proper performance critera will be open to critcism and allegations of favouritism. [caption id=“attachment_1463801” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  What happens to promising boxers like Shiva Thapa? Getty Images[/caption] Banerjee, who is also the East Zone boxing president, felt the best option was for either the IOA or the government of India to nominate the zonal heads of India’s boxing associations as the selection committee as they had the requisite knowledge and experience to pick the squad to represent the country. “You cannot ignore the state bodies,” he said. “IOA can advise and appoint us and communicate the decision to the government of India and AIBA. Then nobody can question [the selection].” Banerjee, who is reportedly part of the group that is opposed to the Abhay Chautala faction, also lamented the current state of affairs but said it was AIBA’s job to come up with a solution. That Indian boxing has been brought so low is the usual story of greed and hunger for power overiding the interests of the athletes themselves. It was Chautala’s elevation to the post of chairman, a post not in the IABF constitution, that led to the body being banned by AIBA in the first place back in 2012. Chautala had completed his maximum term of 12 years but wished to stay in power because it was his route to the IOA, where he was also running for president. However, in an ironic twist, he ended up being a key part of the the reason the IOA was suspended by the IOC, followed by AIBA suspending the IABF. While the IOA eventually backed down and conducted fresh elections without Chautala, who was barred because he has a criminal case against him, the IABF has not able to get its act together and hold new elections. It was subsequently derecognised by AIBA earlier this year and yesterday’s decision by the Indian government could well be the knock out blow to the Chautala faction. That however, does not mean the sport will now sort itself out. There is a need for a new set of administrators who can take over and restore the momentum boxing has gained over the last decade. The problem is the people most qualified to run the game were already part of the federation, creating a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation. Boxing was once righly hailed as an example of India’s rising sporting prowess. Today, it is testimony to how quickly those gains can be squandered by callous administrators. If India wants to be taken seriously as a sporting power, it cannot afford for sports bosses to run federations as their personal fiefdoms. Sadly, it might already be too late for boxing.