IOA suspends BFI, five-member ad-hoc panel to oversee functioning of boxing in India

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New Delhi, Feb 24: The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has suspended the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) for lack of good governance and set up a five-member Ad-hoc panel to oversee day to day functioning of boxing in the country.

"The IOA has been closely monitoring the administrative affairs of the BFI. As per the governing norms, the elections of the office bearers of the BFI were to be conducted on or before February 2, 2025. Also Read: Boxers' interest takes a backseat as BFI think tank focuses on office-bearer elections in March

"However, despite the prescribed timeline the elections have not been held, resulting in instability within the federation," the IOA in a communication stated and further said, the committee should take immediate steps to address the grievances raised by the boxing community and ensure Indian boxers compete at the international level.

Jharkhand's seasoned sports administrator Madhukant Pathak has been nominated chairman of the Ad-hoc panel while Rajesh Bhandari, another seasoned sports administrator from Himachal Pradesh is the vice-chairman.

DP Bhatt, a technical official from Uttarakhand, Assam's international boxer Shiva Thapa and Virendra Singh Thakur are the other three members of the Ad-hoc panel constituted by the IOA.

"It is a sad state of affairs that IOA had to suspend BFI due to lack of transparency and good governance," said one of the members of the Ad-hoc panel.

The elections of the BFI were due in November 2024. Several state units had apprised incumbent BFI chief Ajay Singh and Hemanta Kumar Kalita (secretary) to timely hold the elections but the issue was ignored. Kalita recently told myKhel that elections for the office bearers of the BFI will be held in March.

The BFI also failed to timely conduct its annual domestic calendar. The women's national boxing championships were postponed at least thrice in the past three months. "The BFI was overlooking the interest of the boxers," one of the international boxers from Himachal Pradesh said.

"Athletes' interest will be the priority and domestic competitions will be held under the banner of IOA," another member of the Ad-hoc panel told this website. "We will streamline the functioning of the BFI as early as possible for the smooth conduct of the elections of the office-bearers that have been pending since November 2024."

The IOA has also stated in the letter to the Ad-hoc panel to ensure fair and free elections as early as possible. "The Ad-hoc panel should issue a notice of the elections of the office bearers of the BFI as per guidelines and appoint a returning officer and independent observer to oversee the election process," the IOA letter signed by President PT Usha stated. "The boxer's interest should not be ignored."

BFI condemns IOA action

BFI president Ajay Singh whose tenure ended in November 2024, strongly reacted to IOA suspending the Boxing Federation condemning the creation of an ad-hoc panel to manage its affairs. BFI called it illegal and a blatant attempt to violate the autonomy of the National Sports Federation (NSF).

In a communication to IOA, Singh who is chairman and managing director of SpiceJet said a five-member IOA's Ad-hoc panel to oversee the functioning of BFI was legally not valid.

"It is a clear violation of due process. No prior notice was issued to BFI. It is deeply concerning that such a drastic measure has been undertaken without any transparent justification and notice should be withdrawn immediately," Singh said in his letter to IOA.