Suspension of Indian Amateur Boxing Federation a wrong decision: Dagar

07 December, 2012

Maintaining that the decision was taken only on the basis of 'doubt', AS Dagar has said they have written to International Boxing Association to cancel the suspension of Indian Amateur Boxing Federation.

THE SUSPENSION of Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF) by the International Boxing Association (AIBA) just days after the suspension of Indian Olympic Association is another major embarassment for the Indian sports.

The AIBA has taken this stance alleging 'possible manipulation' during September elections of Indian boxing body, but Lt. Col. AS Dagar, Executive Director of IABF does not agree with the decision, saying that 'they (IABF) are wrong' as no manipulation took place during the elections. He believes that the decision has been taken only on the basis of 'doubt'.

The AIBA would investigate the elections that took place a few months back. It is upon these investigations that the future course of action is expected to be taken. Akhil Kumar, a former Indian Boxer expressed his surprise over the suspension: “It is surprising to see that they came to know about it (possible manipulation) and others did not know,” Kumar said.

He maintained that AIBA has some rules and regulations, which are to be followed by other national boxing bodies and 'not following them may lead to punishment'. There has been no certain evidence about manipulation, which the AIBA has been talking about. They also need to prove it before they take further action on IABF.

Mr Dagar said, “We have written (to the AIBA) stating that it is a wrong step and asked them to cancel the suspension.” But, in all probability, the AIBA is not going to listen to them so easily, but if the need arises 'Abhishek Matoria, the IABF President is also willing to go and speak to the AIBA officials'.

The decision would nevertheless affect the morale of Indian players. “It will break the confidence of the players,” Kumar said. But there is something about it too, as Kumar said: “We should learn from the mistakes (if any) and improve the future.”