Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain No roadmap since Paris Olympics has left them ‘clueless’NEW DELHI: Echoing the sentiment of their fellow boxers, two of India’s premier women boxers — Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain — have called for expeditious elections in the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) and a swift resolution of the deadlock between the sport’s governing body and Indian Olympic Association (IOA) over the formation of an ad-hoc committee. The boxers asserted that the ongoing stalemate has impacted their training regimen for important forthcoming championships.Two-time world champion Nikhat said that the boxers are “clueless” about their future, having been deprived of exposure trips and international competitions since the Paris Olympics in July-Aug last year. The 28-year-old from Nizamabad highlighted the federation’s inability to conduct the elite women’s Nationals, national camp and facilitate participation in the Strandja Memorial meet in Sofia.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!”Boxers shouldn’t suffer because of the BFI’s election issue. We don’t know what the future has in store for us. All I have been doing is training at the Army Sports Institute (ASI) in Pune since Jan this year,” Nikhat told TOI, “This is an important year, with the World boxing championships in Liverpool in Sep and then the World Cup season finals in Nov in India. We (boxers) need certain clarity about the national camp, exposure trips and competitions abroad. We missed the Strandja meet where India has been a regular participant.”I would like the BFI to conduct its elections at the earliest, so that the new set of office-bearers can prepare the future roadmap, and the things can be streamlined,” she added.Lovlina, the Tokyo Games bronze medallist, asserted that boxers should not bear consequences for circumstances beyond their control. “As a boxer, our responsibility is to train well, represent the country and secure medals. All we require is a proper structure. There’s a necessity to devise a comprehensive strategy regarding our training and competition for the future tournaments. Since the Paris Games, nothing substantial has happened in Indian boxing. It’s time the boxers went out and competed,” the three-time World Championships medallist stated.Nikhat, who resumed training after a three-month long injury lay-off following the Olympics, added that the administrative impasse has left the boxers a “confused lot”, with respect on whose instructions to follow – BFI or the ad-hoc panel.”The BFI is saying something, ad-hoc committee is saying something. There are factions within the federation. Then, I suppose, there’s a court case going on. I don’t know what to do (in this situation). The only good news is that the IOC has granted (provisional) recognition to World Boxing.”‘IOA’s decision undermines BFI’s autonomy’World Boxing president Boris van der Vorst has written to IOA president PT Usha, stating that the formation of the ad-hoc committee by the latter “undermines the BFI’s autonomy” and the decision is “not fully justifiable”.Vorst said that the unfortunate situation in India “is not a fruit of bad faith and (has been) influenced by those who have placed boxing in the difficult position to which World Boxing has fought so hard to crawl out of”.
‘Boxers shouldn’t suffer’: Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain demand end to impasse | Boxing News
